The Perfect Performance

Rating: 10/10 (26 February 2009)

Every so often, a film comes along that is so unbelievable, so permanent, and so unforgettable that you just know that after you have watched it, you feel obliged with an uncontrollable compulsion to stand up and clap having witnessed the sight of one of the greatest films ever made. A generation saw On The Waterfront and Rebel Without A Cause, a generation saw Taxi Driver and The Godfather, and now another generation sees Darren Aronofsky's 'The Wrestler'  whilst not being the perfect film, it is a film backed with the prominence and presence of our generation's first truly perfect performance: that of Mickey Rourke's Randy 'The Ram' Robinson.
Mickey Rourke's performance in this film is absolutely jaw dropping. It's a performance you look at with eyes permanently fixed on the screen, executed with such brilliance and such awe-inspiring honesty that you could only have gone to somebody with a life like Mickey Rourke's for it to be held in so much reverence. This was his Johnny Cash/'Hurt' moment  the pinnacle of a daunted and flawed career summed up in a single unforgettable moment, like a sunset behind thin summer clouds overlooking the sea producing colours a painter could only dream of painting. It's a transcendent mix of humanity and soul, a very real howl of pain that is heard only in the wails of the greatest Blues songs only ever sung in the nightmares of those who wish they could have written them.
Randy 'The Ram' Robinson, the Wrestler, IS Mickey Rourke. It's an honest, sympathetic portrayal of a character that he could never quite muster up and find within himself, but through another medium or another thinly veiled character could express emotionally with more depth than he could have done if he simply played himself. More-so, however, it's a portrayal for the ages.
The Wrestler, whilst not being the perfect, flawless film, is a film carried essentially by a single guy who turned what could have been a tedious, 2-emotion, latter day Nicholas Cage film into a powerhouse performance that could challenge even the most primitive of emotions hidden deep inside even the most jaded of people. Mickey Rourke's performance isn't just a performance; it is our generation's Taxi Driver, and our On the Waterfront. It is the benchmark for an entire generation of actors to try and surpass, and is, so far, the best performance of the 21st century without a shadow of a doubt. In years to come, this performance will be cited as one of the greats, and will never be forgotten.
2009 won't be remembered as the year Slumdog Millionaire triumphed or the year Kate Winslet 'finally' got an Oscar, or even the year Sean Penn won for his brilliant portrayal of Harvey Milk - it will be remembered as the year Mickey Rourke lost.
Aronofsky shouldn't be forgotten for capturing that moment in Mickey Rourke's career, however - like the cusp of a wave; initially starting small, growing in momentum, dropping into a recess, and finally crashing into the shoreline and leaving an indelible mark on those who were on the beach to watch it happen.
The Wrestler is a film with a great deal of underlying themes: struggle for humanity in the modern age, looking for the everyman in a world of poseurs and pretenders, the value of knowing when mistakes have been made, the loss of male identity and loneliness of trying to exist in a Western society increasingly reliant on the extant provisions of women - it's a very, very real and broody, ostensibly 21st century film, especially poignant for the everyday 21st century male. A film, not without it's flaws, mind you - but then are we, as humans, any different?