The Wrestler

★★★★★
(Loved it)

Director: Darren Aronofsky
Starring: Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood
Rating: R
Runtime: 115 Minutes
Distributor: Fox Searchlight
Academy Award Nominations: Mickey Rourke for Best Actor; Marisa Tomei for Best Supporting Actress

Introduction

When Fox Searchlight released the plot synopsis for 'The Wrestler' I would not have called myself excited. The good old cliche resurrection story is one that I have watched countless times, and pondered to myself if I even needed to watch another. Then it won the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival. As the holiday season approached, it started gaining much critical acclaim from critics alike. It was not until I saw the trailer that I quickly made it one of my must see films for the holiday season. I can gladly say that I was not in the least disappointed...

The Film

I do not in any way shape or form am a fan of professional wrestling. That said, The Wrestler is without a doubt one of the finest films of 2008. I feel like it's a damn shame that it's not nominated for Best Picture by the Academy; but is anyone really surprised?

Randy 'The Ram' Robinson is a professional wrestler who was a star in the 1980's, who finds himself twenty years later past his prime. Robinson now lives in a trailer home and drives an old beat up van in the ghetto of New Jersey. On the weekends he spends his time at independent wrestling events earning extra money. Robinson has a non-existant relationship with his daughter Stephanie Ramzinski (Evan Rachel Wood) and has deep affection for his favorite stripper Pam (Marisa Tomei). Mickey Rourke's character is one of the most like-able characters to hit the big screen. Rourke's fantastic performance is probably a once of a lifetime time endeavor. The performances of Rourke, Tomei, and Wood are what make this film so great. Everyone of them is a completely believable person who does not come across as hollow or gimmicky. Rourke and Tomei have both picked up Academy Award nominations for their performances. To be honest, as much as I liked Tomei's performance, I felt that Wood's performance had a bigger impact and was better. While I feel Wood should have been nominated instead of Tomei, I am completely content with the nomination of Tomei for Best Supporting Actress.



Darren Aronofsky isn't the Director you would expect to direct a film of this nature. Aronofsky's other ventures include Requim for A Dream, The Fountain, and Pi. I feel that this is by far Aronofsky's most approachable and watchable film that he's done. If you're a fan of Aronofsky's work, then you will find much to like. The most similarities to his past works include rough, erratic transitions from one scene to the next. Aronofsky's look into human emotions and relationships in no less effective in 'The Wrestler'. One aspect that is noticeable right at the very start is strong presence of film grain. While at first you certainly notice, I can't recall it every being a problem after the first ten minutes. It does add a nice touch to the film to show Rourke's gritty, outlandish lifestyle. Sound is once again no problem here, when Rourke is wrestling it's an engaging audio track. The ending left me absolutely mesmerized. I wont go into spoilers, but it was probably my favorite part of the film.

I'm sitting here trying to finish this review, and wondering to myself if I see any flaws. I am having hard time finding any, to be honest. I think the a prime complaint that the certain people may have is the rough transitions between certain scenes and alas, the ending. While I loved the ending and feel that most people will, I can see how some people may be upset. Once again, no spoilers but take from it what you will.

'The Wrestler' was without a doubt one of my favorite films of the year. If I had to rank, I would put it at number 2 for the year, ahead of The Dark Knight but just behind Slumdog Millionaire. While the sport of wrestling is something I do not like, and often make fun of it, 'The Wrestler' is a must see film for everyone. The performances are stunning across the board, the editing by Aronofsky is superb and Springsteen's song 'The Wrestler' is one of the better original songs I have heard in a motion picture. 'The Wrestler' earns a rare five stars, and I can give it my highest recommendation.