Mickey Rourke finally gets it right

Rating: Null/10 (21 July 2009)

Mickey Rourke is certainly one of the most glaring cases of squandered talent in Hollywood history. Back in 1982, he costarred in the cult classic Diner and critics hailed him as a new James Dean, however in the 27 years since, he has been more known for his irresponsible bad boy behavior and his abortive attempt to become a boxer then for his movie credits. He had an amazing talent to turn down good roles like in Beverly Hills Cop and The Untouchables and take bad ones like Harley Davidson And The Marlboro Man. However, he finally made a wise choice in accepting this role. He won over a dozen major awards for his portrayal of Randy "The Ram" Robinson and to me he earned them all. This is certainly a dark sad film in the classic "film noir" sense. There literally isn't a happy moment in it. Randy The Ram was once on the top of the wrestling world, the Muhammad Ali of wrestling. Now it is twenty years since his last great match and he is living in a run down trailer park and wrestling before tiny audiences at the bottom of tank town. He tries and fails to form a relationship with his estranged daughter. There is a heartbreaking scene where he gets drunk and misses dinner with her and she throws him out for good telling him its broken beyond repair with him. You look at this sad shell of a man and you realize what he means when he says that the ring is what he loves because its the world outside that really hurts him. Marisa Tomei is also great in this film as the stripper with a heart of gold he flirts with. You can sense her character's pain as well as she tries to balance being a loving mother with her sleazy profession. Tomei was wonderful in My Cousin Vinny and brought home Oscar gold, but her career never took off like it should. I am glad she won praise for this as well. Rourke's greatest moment in the end is the speech he makes to the audience before the rematch when he tells them how he may be down but isn't out! Its a speech that would have made Sylvester Stallone proud. SPOILER ALERT its insinuated that he is having a fatal heart attack in the match and the last shot is of him leaping off the rope. I felt that it would be the only appropriate end for the Ram to die in the ring. He didn't have a happy life but at least could have a happy death. A sad ending for a brilliant but sad film.