The Wrestler Movie Review

The Wrestler

Movie Review

Ok, its confession time. I was an avid and am still an occasional wrestling fan. It seems to rank somewhere between Anime and Star Trek in the list of things you should not mention enjoying or even knowing about in polite company. I can't count the number of times the phrase "you know it's fake, don't you?" has been uttered near me. I'm sure there was a time when I thought that Hulk Hogan really was about to lose before mustering all his strength to impossibly beat his opponent senseless, but I eventually worked out what was really going on. For children, I think its comparable to santy; you believe its real up to a certain age then, and mostly before anyone even tells you, you've worked out the truth for yourself. Darren Aronofsky's Oscar-nominated movie The Wrestler doesn't deceive or sugarcoat; from the outset it's grim and grimy fare, but a powerhouse performance from Mickey Rourke rewards those who can sit through it without slipping to the bathroom to slit their wrists.

Rourke plays Randy "The Ram" Robinson, a wrestler who enjoyed his prime of popularity in the eighties, and has been on a downward curve since. By the time we meet him he's nearing rock bottom, if you'll forgive the wrestling pun. He works a menial job during the week and wrestles at a series of small venues at weekends, having apparently squandered any real money he made during the height of his fame.

The wrestling scenes are perfectly authentic. Old ballrooms serve as the arenas and the fans shout their three syllable chants of "Ho-ly Shit" and the like with gusto. Matches are mostly filmed close up, with the camera in-ring. Despite this, the shots never become disorienting. I liked that Aronofsky doesn't try to stylise the act. This is the first dramatised film I know of, which has not treated wrestling like a carnival sideshow. There's no ultimate good vs. evil clash propelling this movie forward; wrestling just serves as the backdrop for the story of how one man made some very bad life choices.

If you've ever seen a documentary called Beyond The Mat, you'll know why Randy the Ram reminds me of Jake "The Snake" Roberts. The film, which was shot in the late nineties and which Vince McMahon (WWF/WWE chairman) tried to block, shows a broken husk of a man, addicted to drugs and estranged from his daughter. The incongruity of those scenes and the man I remember from Saturday morning wrestling was stark and I was reminded of Roberts while watching Rourke's performance.

Marisa Tomei holds her own next to the Ram, but is unconvincing as an over the hill stripper purely because she's still hot. The only part of the movie which left me struggling to suspend my disbelief was that strip club patrons would not want her to dance for them. Yeah, right.

This spandexed Leaving Las Vegas is not one to watch if you've just had bad news, but if you have the stomach its well worth a watch because Rourke's acting is flawless. If you have seen it and want more then try watching Bambi up until the point when her mother is shot or stop Its A Wonderful Life when Jimmy Stewart wants to jump off the bridge. Just be aware that you're not a well person.

8/10