Mickey's Personal and Cinematic Redemption Film

Rating: 9/10 (11 May 2017)

It's a tough task being a Mickey Rourke fan these days. The dude was at his peak in Diner and Angel Heart (all 1980s films), but he threw it all away for odd roles in soft erotic films (a good 9 and ½ Weeks and a bad Wild Orchid) and a boxing career that left him with permanent scars on his face and scars on his movie career. I am one of the few who stuck by him, and I still stick by him because he knows how to play the Hollywood game when money is tight or when a quality screenplay is under your nose.
With his role in The Wrestler, I feel Mickey can finally jab the past away as he stars as a character so close to his personal experience, the end result grants him salvation and a worthy Oscar nomination. It may be a brutal self-destructive experience, but Mickey's enduring 1980's smile still gives me tears and hope.
As boxing was his output in real life, Mickey echoes his life as Randy "The Ram," a washed up wrestler closing in on retirement but still breathing nostalgically for old school fans. A van is a home, a stripper (Marisa Tomei) is a comfort, and an estranged daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) is a hope. On top of that, Randy has a heart that is dying on him, giving him less time and chance for redeeming lost relationships. Only he knows this, and his arduous search for redemption is just as tough as the hits he takes in the ring.
Director Aronofsky of Pi and Requiem for a Dream is a supposed "art dart," but this film is surprisingly conventional for most audiences. As usual, I am perplexed by how so many good films like this go unseen because only independent theaters will take them. Don't be lazy. Get up and see this one no matter where it's showing! The role Mickey takes on involved working out for 80 minutes a day, a gut to stick fiction to autobiographical, and two swollen eyes for reconciliation. Mickey deserved the Oscar, not Sean Penn, if you ask me.