Completely left me hanging! *Spoiler Alert* Only read this if you've seen the film!

Rating: Null/10 (29 January 2009)

Before I go into my reason for writing this, I'd like to get some things out of the way. "The Wrestler" was an outstanding film. Every actor, especially Mickey Rourke did an incredible job. Aronofsky's directing style was compelling, and original, and the story is one to remember.
But you know all of this already. The great reviews and enormous hype told you all of this , so why am I writing this then? Because this film was very near perfection. It was ALMOST an instant-classic, and ALMOST a piece of art. What stopped it? Well if you've read the summary of this comment, and have seen the film, then you already know.
The ending of the movie, or lack thereof, completely tarnished what would have been an incredible piece of cinema. Ambiguity isn't a new trick used by filmmakers to end movies, but it can be a difficult card to play. When used for this movie, it was an utter failure. The reason it failed here is because the entire movie is based around Randy "The Ram", and his struggles. The movie is almost completely guided by Rourke's character. I spent 2 hours watching this movie, caring about the character as he developed, and literally praying he would come out of his final fight alright. Aronofsky did a wonderful job by giving "The Ram" the sympathy of the audience, but wasted it by not giving any form of resolution in the end. I'm not saying I need a happy ending, Aronofsky could have killed him if he wanted to, but the fact is that he should have done something. I understand that it can be effective to leave it to the interpretation of the audience, but when you spend an entire movie developing a character, you simply must give him an endpoint. Whether "The Ram" was designed to be a tragic hero, or a success story, there should have been some closure. I'm not saying that they needed to do a whole 15-minute ending where he solely either wins or dies, but a simple 30 extra seconds of film, at least showing the end of the fight would have sufficed. I think it's such a punch in the face, no pun intended, for Aronofsky to give the audience someone to care so much about, and then not resolve his story in any way. It's not artistic, it's lazy, and careless. If he's a tragic hero, then complete the tragic downfall. If he's a success story, then let him live, but for God's sake, DON'T leave it up to the audience. With a story like this, and a character like "The Ram", it's just plain wrong. You can call me old-fashioned, or close-minded, but every story needs an ending, and "The Wrestler" just flat-out didn't have one. The only solace I found in the half-done final minutes of the movie was Bruce Springsteen's fantastic song. This song deserved the Oscar nomination it was so unfairly denied, but I guess that's a rant for another time.