Movie Review – The Wrestler
September 12th, 2009 Filed under: Uncategorized — Movie Critic
It’s such a nice day it’s almost impossible to write this review. My immense dilly-dallying is due to the fact that “The Wrestler” is a very bleak movie. Very well executed, but bleaker than bleak.
The film centers on Randy ‘The Ram’ Robinson (Mickey Rourke), an old broken-down wrestler who is well beyond his glory days, but doesn’t know how to be anything else. Despite the punishment to his aging body, he continues to don the spandex and execute the free-falling “Ram Jam” for his ever-dwindling audience.
When a life-threatening heart condition endangers his wrestling career, he’s left trying to figure out what to do with the rest of his life.
He seeks solace in his stripper crush Cassidy (a rockin’-bodied Marisa Tomei) and attempts to repair the relationship with his estranged-daughter Stephanie (Evan Rachel Wood).
He begins to slowly carve out a life for himself by landing a deli-counter job, going on a semi-date with Cassidy and having a tender afternoon with his daughter.
Things seem to be coming together for Randy until he has a run-in with a customer that sends him back to his self-destructive ways. Like a snowball rolling down hill, his ego-driven destruction quickly destroys all the newfound hope in his life.
He desperately wants and needs to do the right thing, but can’t tolerate the pain of life in the real world.
This movie is wonderfully executed, but there’s an uncomfortable undercurrent of dread that definitely takes a toll. Even when things are going well for Randy, there’s always the sense that it isn’t going to last for long, despite his best intentions.
Mickey Rourke brings Randy to life in the most vivid and heart-breaking manner. Since the movie follows his character around documentary-style, he’s forced to carry the dramatic weight of the movie and does so brilliantly with his daring, soul-bearing performance. His weathered face-painful light-years away from the sexy John of “9 1/2 Weeks”-emanates the torment inflicted by decades of wrestling excess.
The grainy, documentary-style cinematography and simplistic scenery add a tremendous depth to the movie and highlight the haunting performances of these wounded characters.
Bottom line: Wonderfully executed, but very bleak, drama. Heart-breaking performances by Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei.
Take care,
Sheryld
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