good movie

Rating: 8/10 (23 March 2009)

I really enjoyed this movie, which tells the tale of Randy "The Ram" Robinson (Mickey Rourke), a former big-time pro wrestler fallen on hard times, most of which seem to be the result not of bad luck but bad planning and bad habits. Forced to compete in violent and dangerous stunt matches with other former big-timers and young wannabe wrestlers.
It's the first film about pro wrestling that I've seen which shows the amount of brotherhood that exists between many of the wrestlers, the amount of planning and skill that goes into the matches, and so forth. It's also a story about a once great athlete, and so at times it veers or threatens to veer into rather standard melodramatic territory. For instance, the sub-plot with Randy's daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) is fraught with peril but I'd say they did an OK job of it. I definitely like the Marisa Tomei character, even if the stripper with a heart of gold is sort of a cliché. I think Tomei and Rourke were able not only to put over a role that could be considered a stereotype, but to make a statement on the idea of typing in general. They are just such unique personages in terms of how they come off the screen, it defies the way that we tend to see each other in life in terms of very standard types. Randy is at the same time not what he seems at first to be and also the ultimate version of what he seems to be -- a fallen champion desperate to get back on top, but without the goods he needs to do it.
The music is fun and a blast to hear after all these years, even if it wasn't my favorite at the time. I imagine there are lots of younger people today discovering the joys of Guns N' Roses and various bands like that thanks to this film which shows them in the same kind of nostalgic but steady-eyed perspective as Randy himself. People like "The Ram" were the rulers of the world when I was a little kid in the 80s, and it's sad to think about some of them really falling from those positions. We could look at the pathetic aspects of Randy's life but at the same time he actually accomplished more than a lot of people ever do. The fact that he couldn't maintain a personal life ended up making the whole thing bitter and pointless in the end. Rourke performs the part perfectly, with a sense of pride and no regrets, a man waking up to certain realities that he's spent a lot of time and money trying to avoid.