The Wrestler

From religious conspiracy to drug addicts to the final reaches of space and life director Darren Aronofsky has wooed, intrigued and boggled audiences with his visionary style and storytelling always reaching for the most bravado he could muster. This time, however, Aronofsky stepped back a little and produced his most heartfelt, striking gem of a movie in lo-fi. This time it isn't even Aronofsky's movie, this time it's all about the raved comeback performance of Mickey Rourke. The premise is pretty simple: an aged pro-wrestler name Randy "the Ram" Robinson who still fights in amateur events and works at a supermarket during the week is lonely and, well, aging. His best friend is a stripper named Cassidy and his only family, a daughter, hates him. Life is pretty down on this guy, but besides the cast of Slumdog Millionaire Rourke's Ram is the most charming and likeable character this year with Marisa Tomei's stripper a close second. Everything in this movie is turned way way down from Aronofsky's typical style, but he instead pulls in 3 wonderful pivotal performances, yes 3 of them, Rourke, Tomei, and Evan Rachel Wood as his daughter. The story though is Rourke. He is the wrestler, a man who failed out of life for awhile, looking for a comeback and Rourke found it here after a few minor roles in the past couple years, most notably in Sin City as Marv. In Robinson Rourke delivers a lot of humanity through the screenplay that depicts wrestlers fairly as a people of performance, but who still get hurt. The difference is that Randy the Ram Robinson knows the pain that awaits inside the ring, but it is the unexpected pain of the outside world he can't handle. This tale is bold, true, and vulnerable and packs as much punch as the wrestlers who inhabit it.