"The Wrestler", in some ways, reminded me of "Raging Bull". The opening sequence shows the glory days of Randy "The Ram" Robinson, and then the film opens up with the usual "20 Years Later", and he's a broken down man who works at a food mart and still does weekend shows for some extra scratch, just trying to make ends meet, and recapture old glory.
There is nothing we haven't seen here before with the dark side of an athlete's life--although I did enjoy some of the credit given to these guys who are trying to make a living, and aren't the big celebrities like "The Rock" or Stone Cold Steve Austin. They have pretty lame names, and they do actually beat the hell out of each other at times. There's a pretty bloody and gritty match that "The Ram" gets involved with, which leads to his ultimate "life-changing" decision to retire, and that's when he suffers a heart attack.
At first he doesn't want to retire, but after trying to reconnect with his daughter thanks to the advice of his regular stripper-friend (played quite well by Marissa Tomei--I didn't know she could work a pole like that!), he decides to settle down a bit. But as it turns out, his daughter hates him and the one chance he has to redeem himself by taking her out to dinner, he blows it on cheap sex with a slut with a Fireman fetish (probably the funniest sequence in the whole film).
And of course, that's what this movie is about. It's all about being too late to change things, and faded dreams that never will be reached again. It's a fairly predictable film but it's saved by its quirky approach and the absolutely powerful and commanding performance by Mickey Rourke. He steals the show completely--and he just knows how to make you feel his pain just with a crack of his lips and the croak of his broken voice.
Despite that this is quite a depressing film, there are some funny bits in it. There's a great scene in a deli that he's picked up hours for, in which he sort of relives some "charisma" and shows how he "plays to an audience" while slicing up deli meats and sealing up penne pasta and egg salad. There's the aforementioned "sex slut" sequence, and there's an amusing scene of him playing Nintendo with a kid who makes no bones that playing this wrestling game is "an old game".
An old game can sum up this movie's plot and the character development as well, but it's unfair to put down a film that's at least earnest and deeply involved with its protagonist, even if what he does for a living can be a cheap and shoddy profession. It's still something you can actually admire, if you think about it.
out of
On a side note: The writer of this film is one of the former senior editors of The Onion. I think it's safe to say this guy has some range...
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