Visually Stunning and Authentic Human Story

Rating: 8/10 (20 January 2019)

7 February 2009. What is acting and performing? "The Wrestler" raises some interesting questions as to what constitutes a best actor award and how one differentiates a good actor from a great actor. With Mickey Rourkes' performance it's difficult to tell. Is Mr. Rourke so good in this movie because he is just being himself? Or is it that he is able to bring something extra to the role? Is it the script? Directing? Or does it even matter? Nevertheless, Mr. Rourke's presentation on the big screen feels genuine, authentic, real. There is depth to his character from funny, to subdued, to frustrated, along with a wide ranging diversity of moods and emotions coming off the screen.
What is a good movie, is it realism, is it dramatics, is it catharsis, is it cinematography? Director Darren Aronofsky uses a real hand held camera style and visually raw video style similar to Cloverfield (2008) without all the flashing lights and fancy out of your way to promote how real it all feels. What is good drama? Is it over dramatization, high-lighting? Where is the distinction between reality, a documentary, and a fictional story. In "The Wrestler" the boundaries between a documentary and a fictional drama become blurred because the cinematography captures an almost you are there experience and what feels real, like shooting just what is naturally occurring and what might come from the imagination of someone's mind and this script sometimes obliterates this distinction by its immersion into a depth of a truly provocative, almost voyeuristic look into these people's lives.
The weak portions of this movie come from the superficial handling of the relational depth of the characters. Marisa Tomei's relationship with Mr. Rourke sometimes doesn't seem fleshed out to withstand scrutiny. The emotional connection, underpinning seems only surface deep. Evan Rachel Wood's character is also limited and there are some assumptions and omitted background details that not being in the movie make for her behavior somewhat suspicious and manipulative for the sake of the script and drama. Finally the ending allows the director to leave too much of the burden on the audience without committing himself, preventing the audience from experiencing a truly emotional stingingly powerful conclusion.
Overall, this movie is a solid, penetrating look at a person whose life raises questions about our own. It promotes and challenges the audience to question themselves. But its outlook seems fatalistic and perhaps that is appropriate, but it would have been something truly inspirationl if Marisa Tomei's character (with further development in the movie) and her relationship with Mr. Rourke's Randy had been solidified to the point where she could have become much more of a presence at the end and perhaps even influenced more significantly the outcome of the movie. We'll never know.