The academy's biggest mistake of the last decade.

Rating: 9/10 (14 July 2009)

And that is a true and honest opinion, because one cannot pass by the fact that the most remarkable come-back of the last decade, is the role off Randy 'The Ram' played by the renowned Mickey Rourke. His performance is beyond any classification, most probably because his own history as a washed out actor/sportsman is very similar to the character he is portraying here. Secondly another remarkable come-back may be noted down for Marisa Tomei who shows women around the world that beauty and more likely natural beauty doesn't end after 35. She is at 45 one of the hottest actresses in Hollywood. By far the sexiest one. The movie on itself has a very simplistic story, but in a sense it is that simplicity that brings out the most depth in this story. The story of a man at the brink of his own destruction. Randy is a washed doubt wrestler, once in the 80's a big star in the pro-star Wrestling league, but now twenty years later he is nothing more then a has been, still wrestling in the minor circuit where the young and new up-comers make their appearances and where the old stars are still trying to get back to their once so known fame and respect. And I know it might seem laughable the WWF thing, with the matches all pre-fixed and so on. But the point remains that these men are sportsmen, who put an enormous toll on their bodies, and that is shown throughout the movie. Especially for those who keep on wrestling beyond the point where they should have retired longtime ago. Randy is one of them, he continues to compete in the hopes to get back to the pro-leagues where he was once a big star. Now competing in the obscure circuits, he has no medical treatment or professional following, he needs to seek his salvation in experimental doping drugs that do more damage to his body then they do good. To finance his activities he has been forced to take up a job as a warehouse-worker at the local supermarket. Suffering to make ends meet, he pushes himself to the verge where it almost goes completely wrong. He suffers a stroke and in recovery he finds himself at a crossing in his life, he reflects his relationship with his own estranged daughter, and tries to bring in more depth in his bond with Cassidy (a stripper in the bar he frequents), but he has the heart of a fighter, someone who never backs down in the face of defeat, he doesn't quit, but finally he will have to lose something, and the director brings that dilemma superbly to the screen. U (the viewer) get pulled in to the story, u feel with this poor man, u feel his pains, his indecisiveness, his troubles, u feel sorry for him. And that has been quite a longtime for me to have ever been pulled into a story like that. And oh yes, the final scene or better said the final 5 sec of the movie will pull tears to your eyes. This movie is more then worth the money to rent it, or go watch it in the theater and it is more then recommendable to own it in time. It should not be missing in anyones collection.