If you've ever seen a one trick pony then you've seen this movie. It's a great film.

Rating: 9/10 (2 April 2013)

I've been a wrestling fan since the 1980's, so this movie came out. I was happy to see main stream America getting into it. Main Stream America still couldn't believe that these guys would, for example, mutilate themselves by 'blading' to have blood in matches or take dangerous 'bumps' stunts just to illusion violence in the ring. All these acts takes a ton on the body over the years, and 'the Wrestler' is a story of life imitates art. Mickey Rourke's character of Randy 'The Ram' Robinson mirrors the actor's life in many ways. Both were former stars who pushed their bodies to the limits in brutal fighting. Mickey Rourke quit acting for a while to try his hand in boxing. Randy 'The Ram' Robinson tries to quit wrestling, to try his luck with life. He befriends an aging stripper Cassidy (Marisa Tomei) and try to get back with his estranged adult daughter Stephanie (Evan Rachel Woods), but the proposing chance of a comeback 20th anniversary rematch against his most notable opponent, "The Ayatollah" (Ernest Miller) is calling him back to the ring. Soon, Randy must choice the life of the ring or life outside of it. Randy the Ram, seems to be based on a combination of former wrestlers. Wrestlers Bret Hart and Chris Jericho's books both described the appeal of hanging out with strippers because of the similar lifestyle. Both careers are fantasy based as men are used to portray violence and strippers as sex for their clients. The movie also tackle the dark side of steroid abuse that has caused a laundry list of wrestler deaths in just the past 10 years as Randy use steroids. He use it to tries to fight against age and still look strong and young. Randy's visual look: A tanned bleached blond whom body went to hell might be wrestlers like Lex Luger or better yet Superstar Billy Graham. Lex Luger has both the ailing body and rock bottom financial situation. Randy's volatile relationship with his daughter were definite inspirations for screenwriter Robert Siegel by Jake 'The Snake' Robert's relationship with his daughter as shown in the documentary 'Beyond the Mat'. The speech by Randy to his fans borderlines Terry Funk's 1997 "retirement" in the documentary. Mickey takes the experiences of the wrestlers, along with his own and shapes a character that he was born to play. The part was originally written for Nicholas Cage, but I can't imagine anyone but Mickey Rourke playing this part. Wrestling legend Hulk Hogan claimed that the role was for him. Thank God, that was a lie. Mickey Rourke was always Darren Aronofsky's choice for the film. Mickey Rourke was brilliant in the role. I can believe that the character was lonely. We feel his pain, we relate to his shortcomings and we cheer him on to find love with Cassidy and rebuild the relationship with his daughter. 'The piece of meat' speech at the empty New Jersey boardwalk was just emotionally. The ending to this film is just as powerful. Not only did it save Mickey Rourke's career, but also as well the Director Darren Aronofsky after taking a body slam for his previous film 'The Fountain'. The music in the film was amazing to listen to. The Bruce Springsteen 'Wrestler' song is just boss. The movie and the song goes right to the heart. It's spot on beautiful. Now to the faults of the film. The film can be a bit of a downer and paint wrestling in a bad light. Randy's wrong doing is all his fault. You can't help asking yourself, is he that stupid? He can't help but self-destruct in a series of acts that would better his life. The editing is very choppy in parts, hand-held camera was bit shaky and some of the writing is almost unbearably cliché. I like the fact, the story arch has three acts process. I also like that a number of real life pro-wrestlers were feature in the film, as a fan boy, I found it very interesting. Some critics might hate this movie cause they were kinda hoping for a type of Rocky movie set in the world of wrestling, but the movie gave up to question kind of ending that makes you wonder what happen. I don't mind the drama with dark realism. Check it out, you will definitely find this movie worth it.