Grim, powerful character study.

Rating: 9/10 (18 June 2009)

Everybody has known Mickey Rourke can act for years. So why did he fall off the radar screens in Hollywood for so long? Lots of actors behave strangely off camera, so why use this as the excuse like so many have? Anyway, Mickey Rourke should have no trouble getting good work for a while after this incredible effort as an aging pro wrestler nearing the end of the line. Yes, Sean Penn was very good in Milk, but Rourke deserved that Oscar. A little Brokeback guilt still out there, perhaps? Rourke plays a man known as Randy "The Ram" Robinson. Back in the late 1980s, he was apparently a huge success in the business. Maybe not a Hulk Hogan, but still a champion in his own right. Now, twenty years later, Randy finds himself physically spent, broke, and without any close friends or family. He lives in a trailer that he can't always afford, and he drives a crumby Dodge Ram van. He spends his free time hitting on an aging (though still very sexy!) stripper played by Marisa Tomei. Obviously, he'd like to start a relationship with her, but she clearly thinks of him as just a customer. At least initially. I swear I kept waiting for her to tell him she was married, but I guess she wasn't. Randy also attempts to mend fences with his daughter, but this goes poorly as he sleeps through a dinner date with her and seems to kill any chance of a reconciliation. And worse than anything else perhaps, Randy suffers a heart attack after a brutal match and it looks like he will have to retire from the only thing he's good at! Sheesh! Rourke is simply sensational as you will totally believe him in this role. He handles each scene exactly as his character must. He's tough as hell in the ring, but really a great guy out of it. Notice one scene where he has to work behind a deli counter at a supermarket. Once he quickly learns the ropes, he does a great job helping customers and using a good sense of humor. Until one notices who he really is.... then things get ugly. Rourke must have done some roids or HGH to get his 50+ yr old body looking like that. But the real Randy Robinson would have done them too, so who cares? And his wrestling moves look decent enough for a veteran grappler. Better than anything Hogan ever did, anyway. Marisa Tomei is a woman that doesn't get enough good parts like this. It really must be true that women over 40 cannot get many good roles in Tinseltown these days. She's a great performer, and she took a huge chance with this role. Someone give her some more good parts! And you gotta love the soundtrack with mostly 80s hair metal bands! Quiet Riot, Accept, Ratt, Guns N Roses, Firehouse and Cinderalla are heard here. And Cobain gets properly dissed for ending their reign.
Spoiler Part! The film is not quite perfect, as it is a bit on the predictable side. But luckily, the film spares us a potentially melodramatic ending where we see him die in the ring. A hack writer might have had him die as his opponent was being counted out or something. He probably didn't live much past this final match, if he made it through at all. At least this is left for us to speculate on only. 9 of 10 stars.
The Hound.