A movie thats powerful, deep, and realistic...and its about something fake...

Rating: 10/10 (30 January 2009)

It's no secret that professional wrestling is fake, but that's only to a certain extent. It's staged, which means the events in the ring are plotted out in advance. Chairs are smashed across faces, three hundred pound men leap from twenty feet in the air, weapons come from under the mat, and the wrestlers involved never take any permanent damage. Despite the obvious truth about the sport you would never tell a pro wrestler what he does is fake. That's because sport is played by real people who put their lives on the line for their sport. "The Wrestler" is all about stripping the illusion away from the sport and showing us a wrestler named Randy "The Ram" Robinson, a wrestler ten years past his prime. Randy attempts to keep his glory days of the 80's alive, even at the risk of his own life. Thanks to the script by Robert D. Seigel, the direction of Darren Aronofsky, and the incredible performance of Mickey Rourke, the wrestler becomes so realistic it could be mistaken for a documentary.
Inside the ring Randy is well respected and admired. The younger wrestlers look up to him, seek his advice and encouragement. Outside the ring reality bites: Randy lives in a trailer park and works at a small grocery store to support him. In once scene is rent is late and he is forced to sleep in his trailer. What led him to that point isn't clearly explained but you can figure it out. A many years of self destructive behavior have left his body damaged, along with most of his relationships. We seem him buying steroids before a match. in another scene he abuses cocaine. This leads to a near fatal heart attack that takes him out of wrestling for good.
While out of the game he tries to mend broken fences. He has a daughter he's doesn't know very well. She's grown up to be a lesbian. He does his best to slowly work his way back into her life. His love interest is an aging stripper played by Marissa Tomei. She's also past her prime. She roams the strip club offering lap dances and getting denied numerous times. Who in their right mind would turn down Marissa Tomei? The wrestling scenes are fare more entertaining and insightful then anything in the WWE. Randy hides a razor blade in his pads just so he can make himself bleed at the appropriate moment. There's a brutal match involving glass, nails, barbed wire and a staple gun. Randy and the Necro Butcher (a real life wrestler) puncture each other's skin with a staple gun, and the staples are real. After the match the paramedics pull the staples out.
Without the performance of Mickey Rourke "The Wrestler" would not be as authentic as it is. Prior to his role in this film, Rourke had become a joke, a parody of himself. A former pretty boy actor who destroyed his face during his short lived boxing career (I guess he wasn't very good) and tried to fix it with plastic surgery. It was not a very good combination, and it becomes painfully clear in this movie. But the magic forces of life gave the fallen actor a break when Aronofsky told the producers that he didn't want Nicholas Cage, he wanted Mickey. I can't credit him enough for kicking Cage to the curb: A fine actor but not right for the part. Mickey was born to play Randy "The Ram" Robinson. He became Randy so convincingly because he is Randy. His performance is dripping with so much authenticity it's hard to tell where Mickey begins and Randy ends. It's the comeback of a lifetime.
The Academy nominated him for best actor, an award he deserves to win. He will win it. While he faces tough competition the other four actors are just playing dress up compared to the performance Mickey displays. Nothing about it feels forced, or fake. You believe he's the character from the first shot and all the way into the last. Marissa Tomei was also nominated for best supporting actress. She also deserved the nod, but not the victory. Why didn't Aronofksy, or Seigel get nominated? Without the realistic writing, and focused direction those two performances would never be. And "The Wrestler" as a whole is easily the best movie of 2008. You can't convince everybody, especially the stiffs at the Academy. How ironic that two excellent movies about men in outrageous costumes got snubbed this yearÂ….I think you know what the other movie is.