Little gem of a film, a brilliantly directed character's study about highs and lows with a remarkable performance by Rourke, who transcends the material !!

Rating: 10/10 (26 December 2019)

Darren Aronofsky is a daring filmmaker, he knows how to stage cinema, both visually & technically, and how to defy the 'genres' at the same time, and above all, he's a magnificent director of actors (Ellen Burstyn in "Requiem for a Dream", '00 or Natalie Portman in "Black Swan", '10, being great examples of that).
In "The Wrestler", Aronofsky once again scored high in every department, starting with the 'risquée' casting of Mickey Rourke, one of the best post-Brando performers which, unfortunately, his genuine behavior against fake posing and politics in Hollywood and the sincere passion for the method performance itself costed him his leading status and then his career, and Aronofsky's own 'cinema vérité' style of directing mixed with 'guerrilla filmmaking' approach that transcends the american roots of the Wrestling Entertainment to an 'artsy' film more European inclined.
The original actor hired by the producers, Nicolas Cage, backed out from the movie when he knew that Aronofsky's heart was with Mickey, his old pal from Francis Ford Coppola's "Rumble Fish" ('83), and doing that, he was partially responsible for the film's success and for the resurrection of Rourke, who never really stopped acting, but was 'blackballed' to short cameo appearances in mostly indie films, even if he acted his heart and soul out regardless of his screen time (such as in Terrence Malick's "The Thin Red Line" ('98); as Jan the Actress in Steve Buscemi's "Animal Factory" ('00); as Jim Olstad in Sean Penn's "The Pledge" ('01) or as The Cook in Jonas Åkerlund's "Spun" ('02).
Aronofsky knew that the 'washed-out' / 'has-been' character of Randy "The Ram" Robinson parallel Mickey's own descent into darkness, and both the character and the actor share the memories of the glourious and glamorous days of their stardom in the exuberant 80's and carrying nowadays the stigma that they not fit anymore because the world have changed (surely, not for good, in this reviewer's opinion) and years of self destructive behavior and premature aging due to that did not helped either.
It's an amazing 'tour de force', organic, realistic and remarkable performance that may be the best from that decade. Mickey gave it all (his best performed leading role since "Johnny Handsome", '89) and, finally, he was nominated and won every major awards, except the Academy Award due to the same politically correct that he fought against during his peak in the 80's decade.
The script, penned by Robert Siegel, is simplistic, but goes deeply emotionally and, even if it isn't perfect (the over-the-top reaction from the daughter and even the Ram's outburst in the supermarket) gave those actors the ambience to create their own characters and even their own improvised lines that enriched the film to the level of realism.
Marisa Tomei, who was also Oscar nominated for her brave role here as Pam / Cassidy, the stripper with a heart of gold, offers an inspired performance. She's real, both as a stripper (Mickey himself said that not every actress could be able to 'climb the pole' as perfectly as Marisa did) and as a single mom that wants to change her life and is afraid to fall in love with a former customer.
Evan Rachel Wood, the young co-star of "Thirteen" ('03) and "The Missing" ('03), plays Stephanie, Ram's estranged teenage daughter that he tries to reconnect. Wood goes a little over-the-top, especially in her last emotionally devastating scene with Rourke, but it's on the screenplay, not all her fault, she needed to react like that to provoque the Ram's decision in the third act.
The wrestling scenes are very well choreographed, some of the blood isn't even fake, and even if Aronofsky demanded a stunt double to protect his leading actor in some extreme wrestling sequences, Mickey himself at the age of 56 years old performed the majority of it.
In terms of the soundtrack, Rourke's old pals were there for him, Axl Rose gave the permission to use the Guns 'n' Roses' hit song, "Sweet Child o'Mine", played during Randy "The Ram" Robinson's entrance to his final match, and Bruce Springsteen even wrote and performed "The Wrestler", an original theme which was snubbed for an Academy Award Nomination for Best Original Song, both for free due to their friendship to Rourke and the movie's limited budget.
Other great 80's glam metal / AOR bands featuring in the movie are Quiet Riot, Ratt (when Mickey and Marisa dance in the bar listening to 'Round and Round'), FireHouse, Cinderella, Scorpions, Slaughter and Accept.
In short, "The Wrestler" is a brilliant little film, a taking on the dark side of America's most cheesy sport and a character study on a man that lost everything and search for his redemption in the only place he's still respected: in the ring!!
On a side note, Rourke's performance was lauded not only by professional critics, such as the late Roger Ebert, Owen Gleiberman, Ben Mankiewicz or Richard Roeper, and the audiences around the world, but also from his peers, from Al Pacino, Sean Penn, Sharon Stone, Sylvester Stallone, Brad Pitt to the Mickey's earlier co-star, Kim Basinger and even the WWE Chairman, Vince McMahon and former wrestling superstars as Jake "The Snake" Roberts, the late great "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, Bret "The Hitman" Hart, Hulk Hogan, Mick Foley and "The Narcissist" Lex Luger, which his body was used in the opening credits to depicts Randy "The Ram" Robinson in the 80's.
I rarely give a 10 to a movie released post-2000, but if any movie deserves it, it is undoubtedly, "The Wrestler" !!