The Bum Strikes Back

Rating: 9/10 (28 January 2009)

Before this movie came out, it was hard to believe that Mickey Rourke was once hailed as "the new Brando." With "The Wrestler" it looks like he's finally made good on the early promise he showed as an actor back in the 80s.
He plays Randy The Ram, a wrestler whose best days are long gone. He tells his daughter he's "a broken down piece of meat." (a line that echoes Brando's desperation of "I coulda been a contender" in "On The Waterfront.") With his tight facelift, gravelly voice and blonde bimbo hair, he looks like Charles Bronson in drag, but he's in great shape for a man of his age.
The film has strong echoes of the first "Rocky" movie. Both movies concern down-on-their-luck fighters struggling to make ends meet who get one last shot at the big time. Both films have a downbeat, documentary, slice-of-life style (like Rourke, Stallone was also hailed as "the new Brando" by critics after the first "Rocky" movie). Rourke's "Adrian" is played by Marisa Tomei. She plays a stripper having an on-off relationship with Randy. It's a surprise to see the hot little body that Marisa's got in this (although her face has gone so thin that she looks like she needs a good meal). If anything, Randy the Ram is an even more sympathetic character than Stallone's character in "Rocky." He's older, sicker and virtually alone in the world.
Both Rourke and Tomei have connections with Sylvester Stallone. Rourke starred with Stallone in "Get Carter" and Tomei played Sly's daughter in "Oscar." Casting coincidence? I think not. The makers of this film know their movie history and they knew exactly what they were trying to do.
The script is terrific. It never loses focus on either its themes or its characters. It gives the audience a forensic look inside the world of wrestling (if you doubted wrestling was a fix, it's made crystal clear here). From the endemic steroid abuse to applying fake tan, visits to the hairdresser and the injuries sustained in the matches themselves, we get a warts-and-all tour through Randy's oddball, gladiatorial existence. The bouts in the ring are an affectionate parody of the WWE that we're all so familiar with (indeed, Rourke has apparently been approached by the WWE to take part in the next Wrestlemania. Life is imitating art already!).
If there was one thing I didn't like about this film, it's the inconclusive ending. I don't know if they're leaving it open for a sequel or if you're just supposed to make your mind up about whether Rourke's character survives or not. Either way, it feels like a bit of a cheat. They could have easily wrapped the whole thing up with one final scene.
Apart from that, this was first-rate entertainment all the way. If Mickey Rourke wins the Oscar, I don't think anyone would begrudge him his win. He's stepped on a lot of toes in Hollywood, but he's paid the price with years in the wilderness (anyone who remembers his bit-part performance as a transvestite convict in "The Animal Factory" (2000) will know that). A few years back when he was starting his comeback, he said that he hoped a director would give him a chance as he would "come through like a motherf***er for him." I think he's just done that. Well done, Mickey.