The Passion of the wrestler.........................

Rating: 10/10 (31 January 2012)

Right early on the parallels are set between "Ram"(Mr M Rourke) and Christ with his Mary Magdalene being a pole dancer(Miss M.Tomie)rather than a prostitute.Mel Gibson's "The Passion of The Christ" even gets a name check just to put us on the right track. Later his body is pierced by nails and he lies on the floor of the ring as if crucified. His disciples are a gang of small boys who hang on his every word and his old - time fans who wish it was still 1986. This is a wish shared by "Ram" himself,who is,basically,a washed - up,burnt - out case of a professional wrestler with his future all used up.Short - sighted and hard of hearing,with arthritic knees and elbows,he pumps his body full of drugs just to keep going.It might be said "The Wrestler" starts where "Requiem for a Heavyweight" left off. It features very compelling performances by Mr Rourke and Miss Tomei whose character is even more complex than "Ram",albeit she too makes her living by displaying her body to strangers and inviting an entirely one - sided intimacy between her and her public. After suffering a heart attack,"Ram" at first refuses to quit,but when it becomes clear he cannot run a hundred yards without losing his breath he reluctantly decides to call it a day. But things get steadily worse for him when he misses a dinner date with his estranged daughter and he opts for a comeback fight with his old adversary "The Ayatollah" on the 20th anniversary of his greatest triumph. Relishing the applause of the crowd,"Ram" enters the ring and so starts the match that is not going to end in any good way. The wrestling scenes are all excellent,but the best scenes in the movie for me take part in the "Acme" supermarket where "Ram" is forced to work in the deli counter to earn some cash.He starts off tentatively but gains confidence and is soon on a high,but it all comes crashing down in a truly frightening scene where he deliberately injures his hand(symbolic again) on the cheese cutter and,spraying blood everywhere, goes into an orgy of destruction,screaming obscenities. Mr Rourke is very impressive,totally in control of his persona;a man rather belatedly looking at himself and not liking what he sees. "The Wrestler" is a very fine film about a very human man who,like most of us has weaknesses that generally are just about balanced by his strengths,and decides at the end,to go out with all his strengths blazing.I hope I might be morally brave enough to do that when the time comes.