The anti-Rocky?

Rating: 8/10 (1 February 2009)

SPOILER ALERT: Another exercise in unrelenting bleakness from Darren Aronofsky this time buoyed by a ferocious Mickey Rourke performance. Rourke is Randy "The Ram" Robinson, a pro-wrestler WAY past his prime. He makes a comeback in neither his personal nor professional life --- this isn't ROCKY! Draw your own conclusions what the final shot of the film means. Aronofsky and scriptwriter Robert Siegel pull no punches and never hit a sentimental note even during what should be sentimental scenes, particularly involving Rourke and his estranged daughter, played by Evan Rachel Wood (finally living up to the potential she showed in THIRTEEN). There are moments of uncomfortable humor mixed into the squalor (Rourke taking a job as a deli clerk is particularly bizarre). Marisa Tomei is the film's love interest (maybe anti-love interest is more appropriate). She's a stripper with a lot of her own baggage. All of the acting is excellent and Rourke gives one of those astonishing performances (like Brando in ON THE WATERFRONT and Meryl Streep in SOPHIE'S CHOICE) that will go down in history.