All a Matter of Taste

Rating: 2/10 (26 May 2009)

I've never liked professional wrestling, and I don't think much of Mickey Rourke. Despite all the hoopla, I found this film not very artful, perhaps because I found it disagreeable. Rourke is somewhat plausible as a "has been," because that's what he is. Marisa Tomei is a reasonably good actress but I was not enchanted watching her do pole dances and lap dances in her birthday suit (save for an absolute minimum of covering). Evan Rachel Wood does a nice job as the alienated daughter of Rourke's character, Randy "The Ram" Robinson. Forget Randy "The Ram," however. If I were related to Mickey Rourke himself, I'd be alienated. There is nothing in the least attractive about his character or about him. I can't imagine why he or the film won ANY honors.