One of the finest touching stories of redemption and grim reality of has-beens

Rating: 10/10 (18 October 2019)

One of the best films of the first decade of the 2000s. The director is one of the best currently still working (up there with pt anderson). Tjis is an entertaining thoughtful story of a has been entertainment wrestler who is now ailing and older and highly struggling to make ends meet. Mickey Rourke should have wo the best actor oscar for his portrayal of said main character. In the film we experience touching moments when he tries to get serious with a stripper, and as well trying to reconnect with his estranged daughter. It's very honest, in depth and at times straight up or oddly funny. It features some digestible yet deep serious psychology to it. The director knows humanity so well overall that this film features one of the best depictions of what trash really is- I'm talking in the scene where the main character parties hard with a white trash sttumpet chick and spends the night in her low budget row socisl housing house and find that she's got a sick firefighter obsession. The fact that she's got s pet ferret says it all. The film also shows some great violent wrestling scenes for fans of the entertainment sport. The actor who plays the stripper, his love interest and supporter/ champion of sorts should have won her second oscar for this as well. An awesome movie with no wasted frames ending with a beautiful existential moment. The gritty 16mm film cinematography captures the spirit of the film too.