Appropriately squalid, yet thin and predictable character study does provide Rourke with a flashy acting showcase...

Rating: 5/10 (2 May 2009)

Mickey Rourke appears to connect strongly and sincerely with this role, as Randy "The Ram" Robinson, a professional wrestler 20 years passed his peak; it's the kind of searing, heartfelt performance only a true survivor could deliver. Now working the warehouse in a supermarket and hanging out at a local strip club, Randy does wrestling gigs on the weekend for little money and hopes to reunite with his estranged daughter. Director Darren Aronofsky and screenwriter Robert D. Siegel keep the melodramatics at bay while following Randy through his days (the camera usually tracking just behind him, an idea which grows visually tiresome). Aronofsky's details are uncannily right, and one can almost sense the perspiration (and desperation) in the air at Randy's matches, yet the film's squalid milieu and atmosphere can't build momentum. There are commendably no phony overtures to dramatic 'truths', but neither is there much happening to absorb us. Rourke is almost irresistible while wearing a cheap hearing aid, his glasses perched on the end of his nose, and his portrayal has the ring of truth an intimate character study like this requires. Marisa Tomei's work as a stripper who's afraid of getting close is far less substantial (she's not integral to the story), and Evan Rachel Wood's portrayal of the embittered daughter doesn't work small miracles either (both actresses are solid without being genuinely moving). Randy has buddies and acquaintances, but no friends (not even a pet), and we don't get many details about his background (the mother of his child is never mentioned). We watch him from a distance as he attempts to sort out his life little by little. Rourke's confused, conflicted presence (like a downtrodden Incredible Hulk) does bring us closer to this man, but even his work can't save the film from a series of predictable incidents and one bummer of an ending. ** from ****