The Wrestler

“The Wrestler,” released in 2008, is about a man who can do one thing well, and keeps on doing it because of need, exhausted skill and pride. He wrestles for a living. Pro wrestling is a fake sport, right? Yes, but as an activity, it’s very real. Roger Ebert had admitted in his review, “I watch it on TV with fascination.” It’s scripted that the villain sneaks up on the hero, who pretends not to see him, and pushes him over the ropes and out of the ring. Fake. But when the hero hits the floor, how fake is that? Ebert said, “"Those guys learn how to fall," people tell me. Want to sign up for the lessons?”

Mickey Rourke plays the beaten, broke, lonely hero, Randy (“The Ram”) Robinson. This is the performance of his lifetime, will win him a nomination, may win him the Oscar. Like many great performances, it has an element of truth. Rourke himself was once young and superb and made a lot of money. He did professional boxing just because. He isolated so many people. He fell from grace and stardom, but kept working, because he was an actor and that was what he did. Now here is his comeback role, playing Randy the Ram’s comeback.

This is Rourke doing amazing physical acting. He has the physique of a body builder, maybe because he used some steroids, which would also be true of Randy. He gets into the ring and does the work. Rourke may not be physically performing every thing we see, including the leaps off ropes and ladders and the dangerous falls. Special effects have taken away the believability from movies. Ebert said, “But I've seen a lot of F/X, and I have to say it looked to me like he was really doing these things.”

Not that it matters. It appears that he is, and his ring performances and the punishment he takes gives the foundation for the story, which involves his estranged relationship with his daughter Stephanie (Evan Rachel Wood) and what he hopes will become a relationship with the stripper Cassidy (Marisa Tomei). Except for his backstage camaraderie with other veteran wrestlers, Randy has burned all his bridges in life. Stephanie is far, far from happy to see him show up again. And he doesn’t really believe Cassidy, whose real name is Pam, when she carefully explains that she is not available.

Here is the irony, which he won’t accept. Cassidy is as much a performer as Randy. He is a ring worker. She is a stripper. They put on a show and give the customers what they want. It pays the rent. There is always a gap between pros and their audiences. Ebert noted, “That's why so many show-biz people marry each other. Magicians say, "The trick is told when the trick is sold."” Think about that.

However, Randy has grown a little wiser with the years, less blinded by stardom, more able to admit emotional need. Maybe he too was using more drugs long ago, and they always take first place before relationships. (Ebert said, “He gets a sales pitch from a fellow wrestler who seems to stock more drugs than Walgreens.”) Randy has a lasting charm and sentimentality, which helps him and also deceives him. He makes some small progress with his daughter.

As for Cassidy – have you ever seen Marisa Tomei this type of role before? Ebert said, “I haven't. I don't know if she can.” She seems to have something good at the heart of her that gives this stripper with warmth and sympathy. Not that Randy should get his hopes up.

The most fascinating element in Darren Aronofsky’s films is the backstage detail about wrestling. He does this so well, yet has never made a film anywhere close like this before. In the snow and slush of New Jersey, Randy and his opponents make the rounds of untidy union halls, school gyms, community centers and American Legion halls, using whatever they can find for dressing rooms, taping their damaged parts, troubling themselves up and agreeing beforehand on the script. We learn how they make themselves bleed, prepare for violent “surprises,” talk through each match. And then they go out and do it. Ebert said, “As nearly as I can tell, their planning only means that they get hurt in the ways they expect, and not in unforeseen ways.”

Ebert admitted, “I cared as deeply about Randy the Ram as any movie character I've seen this year. I cared about Mickey Rourke, too. The way this role and this film unfold, that almost amounts to the same thing. Rourke may not win the Oscar for best actor. But it would make me feel good to see him up there. It really would.”

“The Wrestler” was one of 2008’s best films of the year.

I have to say, when I was recommended this movie by some cousins and after hearing Mickey Rourke talk about this in his Inside the Actors Studio interview, I was shocked to see how emotional and dramatic this film was. This might be Rourke’s best role he has ever done, seeing how this film was his comeback role. If you haven’t seen this, you shouldn’t be reading this review. Go out and see it. Especially seeing Marisa Tomei playing a type of role that she may not have ever done before. To reveal a lot of skin in this role took a lot of courage to do.

Alright everyone, we have now concluded “Marisa Tomei Month.” I hope everyone enjoyed it and hopefully my online readers have gone out and seen the films I have reviewed this month. Look out next month to see what I will review next.