The Wrestler Review:
A minute into the film you forget who Mickey Rourke is. Not the character he is playing, but that the actor exists, because right from the start you believe this man is real.
The Wrestler tells the story of Randy “The Ram” Robinson (Mickey Rourke), a washed up professional wrestler from the late 80’s who has fallen on hard times but still performs every weekend.
Under the careful hands of director Darren Aronofsky (The Fountain, Requiem For A Dream), the film grabs hold of you and makes you want to root for this perpetual screw up as he deals with abandonment issues with his daughter (played wonderfully by Evan Rachel Wood) and a complicated relationship with an aging stripper (Marisa Tomei in a possible Oscar role).
Of course, the true star of the film is Rourke, who out of nowhere gives the role of his life. Rourke becomes “The Ram”, and why I think it works so well is because Rourke sees a lot of himself in his character.
The movie does drag a little from here to there, and the story is slightly predictable but I believe the movie ends well and makes up for all of that.
Here’s hoping the Academy recognizes Rourke for his once in a career performance.
