It's not about loving someone for his strengths, but despite his weaknesses ...

Rating: 10/10 (6 February 2012)

Darren Aronofsky proved to be an uncompromising sociological expert, plunging us into the soul of people incapable to face the emptiness of their lives, and therefore filling it with what most defines their personalities. Darren is to age what Scorsese is to sin, with nothing to envy from his elder in terms of technicality, and it's only fitting that he tackled the world of sports for one of the greatest character studies of recent years.
"The Wrestler" belongs to the greatest tradition of sports film, those who focus more on the career of an ex-athlete and his incapability to express himself outside his field, it reminds of the heart-breaking film noir "Requiem for a Heavyweight" starring Anthony Quinn as an ex- champion forced to end his career after a fatal injury. "The Wrestler" has the poignancy of these films with an extra dimension that relies on a documentary value that almost confines to naturalism, we're far from the fast-paced editing and numeral jump cuts of "Requiem for a Dream", "The Wrestler" looks like a film shot by a hand-held camera trying to follow the huge body of an endearing antihero, with a sad poetry forever incarnated by Mickey Rourke in one of the greatest performances of the last decade: Randy 'the Ram" Robinson.
Randy is huge, strong and tall and carries the gentle sweetness of Rocky Balboa but -and that's the key difference- he's a professional wrestler and nothing else, playing a sport so unfairly snubbed but finally redeemed by cinema. Indeed, the title says it all; it's not "Rocky" like "Randy". While "Rocky" was less about a boxer than a man who wanted to go the distance, the "Wrestler" is about a job, a profession and a passion. The film tackles the life of Randy but we all know that sooner or later, the man will get back to the ring, because this is what defines him. The beauty of sports is to allow people to express in an arena and prove their very value there, and this is precisely what undermines the conception of wrestling as a sport, and through the portrayal of Randy and all the other wrestlers, we understand that it doesn't take 'real competition' to be labeled as sports.
Granted all the wrestlers fake their hits or pretend to fall, who among us would try to imitate them, or take the risk to fall on his back? Wrestling is probably the most ungrateful sport because the level of pain and exhaustion is inversely proportional to its popularity. Less than a canonic sport, it's more appreciated as an entertainment, but while athletes can stop, don't we say in entertainment: "the show must go on". Wrestlers are modern gladiators, almost victims of the same bad treatment, but never down, this constant overlooking cements a feeling of solidarity between the wrestlers. Aronofski powerfully creates a contrast between the gory details and really gruesome and painful actions with the relative courtesy and gentleness of these guys, like some sort of real-life gentle giants, men who love and respect each other, and respect their fans, and this is what drives them, what drives Randy, more particularly.
And Randy had everything, he used to be popular on the ring, he had his name shouted by the fans, he even had his figurine actions, those were the flashy 80's. But somewhere between, he screwed around, distanced from his family, his wife; he drank, lost his appeal and became a caricature of himself forcing to stand thanks to medics. Randy becomes an outcast and what other choice he had than befriending other ones: an aging strip teaser named Cassidy, played by Marisa Tomei. Both have kids and can only contemplate the degradation of a world, ironically too cynical for them. Both are uneducated and can only count on their body as precious assets with a limited date. There's this sense of urgency to find a meaning for life before it's too late, and the film takes a tragic pivot when Randy suffers from a heart attack and is forced to finish his career for his health, at the risk of becoming a nobody.
The film progresses as the powerful journey of a man trying to find an opportunity in order to fight his inner demons. If he was dumb enough to lose everything because at least he could fulfill his passion, well, maybe his incapacity to play is an opportunity to fix everything, more importantly his relationship with his daughter, played by Evan Rachel Wood, having a job, and becoming a regular guy. Of course, as it comes with Aronofski's films, characters are given personalities and natures that they can hardly escape from, and what contributes to cement our empathy is precisely in the realistic way they remind us, that we can only remain true to our nature. In a heartbreaking scene with his daughter, Randy asked her not to hate him, and a tear runs from his eyes, I don't think the tear is about the past, because she already forgave him, but for the future because it's like he knew he would end up screwing again, but it would never be badly intentioned.
We all make mistakes in real life, that's what makes it an even more difficult arena, so there's still an ambiguity in what would be Randy's decision : getting on the ring again, is it brave because he would risk his health and even death for that or coward because he took the only thing he mastered and didn't try to improve elsewhere. That's the power of the Wrestler, it questions our own capacity to change and to adapt, and to go the distance of our own lives before making the courageous decision about what we want to do, at any prices. I guess that's what makes Randy a particularly heroic character, eager to sacrifice everything for what he loves.
One of the best of 2008, if not the best.