Genre: Drama Director: Darren Aronofsky
Starring: Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood
Running Time: 115 minutes (plus trailers)
From Darren Aronofsky, the critically acclaimed director of The Fountain and Requiem For A Dream, this movie is one of the most talked out films of this year’s award season, and a great deal of the talk has been about Mickey Rourkes performance. Rourke plays Randy “The Ram” Robinson, a big wrestling star during the 1980’s. Twenty years later, Randy is washed up, relegated to wrestling in community centres and high school gymnasiums, spending most of his free time trying to reconnect with his daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) or drinking in a local strip club where he befriends one of the dancers, played by Marissa Tomei. After a suffering a heart attack it looks as though Randy’s wrestling days are over, but of course nothing can keep this giant out of the ring, and The Ram returns for one final grudge match against his old nemesis “The Ayatollah” (Ernest Miller.)
This movie is very good, though not perhaps quite as good as I expected based on the word of mouth. As always, Aronofsky does a great job directing, the camera work, which is reminiscent of a documentary, provides us with an almost voyeuristic look into Randy’s life. Some of the best scenes come when Randy is interacting with other wrestlers, either in the ring or backstage, and a lot of the films humour comes from the fact that everyone knows that wrestling is fake. More importantly, these scenes let us see that the only time Randy is truly happy is when he’s performing. The acting is definitely the best thing about this movie; Tomei and Wood are both great and the hype about Rourkes performance is not unjustified. His portrayal of a broken man who has lost everything he loves is heart wrenching (which is particularly remarkable given that Rourke only has a limited range of facial movements.) This is the part that he was destined to play, and his mangled physique provides us with evidence of the tragedy of Randy’s life. Indeed, I would not be the first person to point out the similarities between Rourkes own career trajectory and the career of the man he plays.
Before I had seen The Wrester, I had a conversation with my brother about this film. He said it looked like the stereotypical sports film, and to a certain extent, he was right. The premise is not particularly original, and certain elements such as the stripper with the heart of gold, the estranged daughter and so on seem a little hackneyed. But Rourke and Aronofsky manage to make it work, and so despite the clichés, I think this movie is well worth the watch.
The Wrester will be released in Australian cinemas on the 15th of January
