An original piece of film such as "The Wrestler" is hard to find these days. As we enter in the race for the Oscars (which does not always represent the best performances, filmmaking, etc. in this blogger's opinion), I'm curious to find out how "The Wrestler" will do. Micky Rourke (which you may remember from recent films like Sin City, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, or possibly from the cult classic Rumblefish)'s performance is nothing short of brilliance. Half of this credit goes to one of my personal favorite directors Darren Aronofsky (director of Requiem for a Dream and The Fountain).
The Wrestler is a story of a professional wrestler Randy 'The Ram' Robinson (Rourke) who is struggling with his 'art' to make end's meet. He works at a local deli fighting for more hours, practically lives out of his car (when he can't afford the rent of his porto-home), finding love and confidence in a stripper (Marisa Tomei from My Cousin Vinny and In the Bedroom), and attempts to make amends with his teenage daughter (Evan Rachel Wood from Thirteen and Across the Universe) for his absence during her childhood. Sounds like a mouth-full, right? Well, there's plenty more where that came from.
The characters each have their own internal conflict that centers around Randy's profession including Randy himself. This character structure always makes for a captivating story. There is also the reality factor; we see qualities in Randy that those can see in Micky Rourke's personal struggles, mainly with professionalism and drugs (never a good combo, kids!).
What I like most about Aronofsky's film is how he gets his actors to illuminate emotion while getting them to fight it back. Like a withheld emotional grievance that's dying to get out. I strongly recommend this film. Catch it at the Tower Theater across the street from R5 Records.
RANDOM TRIVIA: Darren Aronofsky revealed that Micky Rourke wasn't the first choice to play Randy "The Ram" Robinson. First choice in line was Nicolas Cage, but he turned the movie down due to creative differences. Second choice was Sylvester Stallone. Aronofsky was trying to get Stallone back in the ring again but he has been too busy working on Rocky Balboa (2006) at the time.
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