The Wrestler (2008)

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Directed by: Darren Aronofsky
Rated R

Starring: Mickey Rourke (Randy 'The Ram' Robinson), Marisa Tomei (Cassidy), Evan Rachel Wood (Stephanie)

Synopsis: We follow the day-to-day life of retired professional wrestler, Randy "The Ram" Robinson, and his interactions with his romantic interest, Cassidy, and his estranged daughter, Stephanie.

Review: A crowd is heard faintly from the walkway. 'The Ram' walks confidently toward his destination. The crowds grows louder, 'The Ram' gets more confident. As the crowd is about to go wild, he arrives at the deli counter of a grocery store and faces the now in silence. Out of all the nostalgic bits of Randy playing with his own action figure and signing autographs, this particular scene is the most powerful when it come to depicting Randy's psyche.

After viewing this, my better half was looking at reviews and came across this particular review and I have decided to rebuttal this critic's review. "Hype for Mickey Rouke [sic] in The Wrestler is an embarrassment; the excellent actor has had greater roles and given more interesting performances (his tabloid exploits notwithstanding)" was the critic's opening sentence. Aronofsky immerses his characters in the roles by improvisations and actually doing and not acting in character. When Randy works at the deli counter the first time, he is actually working and interacting with real customers (according to imdb). Another statement is "Ram Jam is a thuggish version of a Sylvester Stallone role, and its obviousness is better suited to Stallone’s cornball ambitions." Isn't that the point to Rourke's character? The guy is a has-been, a loser. He lives in a trailer barely able to pay rent. He has one-night stands after doing shots and coke lines as he attempts to gain his youth back forgetting his responsibility to spend time with his daughter.

The theme Aronofsky sticks to in all of his films is looking at a human being and touching a nerve with them that either shows their weakness that leads them to self-destruction. Instead of ending up in a prison ("Harry" in Requiem for a Dream) or a tree of life ("Tom" in The Fountain), Randy is stuck in 1989 with his last great battle as a crowd-pleasing professional wrestler. Quipping "I hated the 1990s" (or something to that effect), this grown man can't go through the processing of ending a life chapter, moving on, etc. It is heartbreaking to witness, but that's his reality and he doesn't know any better.

The second problem I have with the review is the statement: "Full of self-inflicted lacerations and injections, Ram Jam is his own voodoo doll. Everything he does is an act of masochistic penance—very strange in an anti-spiritual movie." Why choose the wording "anti-spiritual?" This is neither an uplifting film nor an agenda to incorporate religious beliefs. This is a film about the harsh reality present in society one way or another. I am not implying a depressive attitude on the world, but it is false to say everything and everyone has a potential light to shine on itself or his/herself. Some people or things just plain do not have hope, whether it's genetic or inflicted. Some circumstances just need to follow its course. Films like Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, Young Adam, and Aronofsky's other works (Pi, Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain), the audience is shown the facts and the consequences on the characters' decisions. Unfortunately, the characters have all the good intentions to succeed, but end up taking the wrong direction leading to failure. To quote that famous bumper sticker, "shit happens."

Ending the bash-session is "Ram Jam is a distorted white working-class stereotype, but Aronofsky can’t tell courage from vainglory, foolhardiness from sacrifice." First off, what's so "distorted" about this "stereotype?" Is it because of Randy's profession (or lack of)? I'm sure it's so farce to see a has-been struggling to live, being washed-up twenty years earlier when he/she was somebody. Then what about Sunset Boulevard? Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? Heck, even This is Spinal Tap! None of these classics are any different from The Wrestler. Yes, Aronofsky focuses on the bleak aspect, but that's the beauty of these films. These characters have a problem with facing reality and there's not much else to say other than that's that.

Oh yeah (last quote from that review, I promise), "Shame on Bruce Springsteen for contributing a self-pitying title song to Aronofsky’s indie artsiness." What about "Sweet Child O' Mine" by Guns N' Roses, which was donated by Axl Rose (see here) or Clint Mansell's great score (yet again) featuring Slash? And the phrase "Aronofsky's indie artsiness?" Wow. To be a professional film critic, how about "auteuristic style" to replace "indie artsiness?" I don't get paid to write film reviews, there are better phrases to come up if the hatred of this movie was so passionate. I'm sure if the opportunity arose to review the Criterion Collection's sore pick of Armageddon, the opportunity will be completed with phrases such as "heart-pounding" or "gripping" when referencing Aerosmith's ballad "Don't Wanna Miss a Thing."

To back up my critique, this is an excellent film. If you are interested in viewing something that isn't sugar-coated or realistically depicts human nature on a gritty level, please consider watching this movie. If you are not up for such bleakness, I would hold off on this and save it for a rainy day.

Verdict: A