The Comeback Kid

Rating: 7/10 (19 March 2009)

There is something undeniably haunting about Mickey Rourke's performance in "The Wrestler," to the point where, a week after having watched the film, nuances and lines still stick in my mind. Excepting "The Fountain," the films of Darren Aronofsky have had a similarly lingering effect on my conscience, but more so in their aesthetic presentation (culminating in the shrewd technical dexterity of visual effects). And "The Wrestler" is founded on subject matter (a downbeat tale of a pro's descent into obsolescence) that echoes the clinically detailed stories of "Pi" (a mathematical character piece by way of Polanski) and "Requiem for a Dream" (a tale of street-smart junkies and their individual spirals into addiction and degradation). Considering my lack of familiarity toward Rourke's past notoriety and his filmography in general (counting "The Wrestler," I've only seen four of his films), I can fairly objectively say that his performance is what largely buoys the film overallwhile Robert Siegel's script tends to be episodic and fragmented (and Aronofsky cuts it together like a string of vignettes), it never forgets its focus, as Randy "The Ram" Robinson (Rourke) is prevalent in every scene, the camera stalking him wherever he goes (not unlike a festering tabloid camera looking for a story). "The Wrestler" is filled with deliberate anachronisms, from the authentic New Jersey locales (that look efficiently frozen in the mid-1980s), the use of an 8-bit Nintendo system (as Randy plays a game based on his celebrity), the VHS tapes Randy and his faded contemporaries sell at a depressing "convention," and a soundtrack populated exclusively by eighties hair metal bands. Rourke manifests his role with grace and a burdensome sadness; his attempts to reconnect with his estranged daughter (Evan Rachel Wood)a subplot that sometimes feels forcedcome across as emotionally genuine, a man trying to make amends even though he realizes it's a losing battle. Marisa Tomei also shines as an aging stripper who is struggling with her own obsolescence as the world turns its eyes to the young and vigorous.