Movie Review?!?

The Wrestler

Got a chance to see Darren Aronofsky's (Requiem for a Dream) Oscar Buzz pic The Wrestler last night. Cool concept, better movie.

This is the first thing I've seen Mickey Rourke in since The Pope of Greenwich Village, so I'm a bit out of touch with his "work." Anyway, I couldn't imagine anybody else doing this role justice. He was fantastic.

I won't bore you with the full plot synopsis, because it's out there already. In a nutshell: popular 80's wrestler tries to hang onto his lost fame and fleeting name recognition by wrestling for independent promoters in high school gyms and VFW halls on the weekends. All the while he maintains his job as a stock boy at a grocery store by day. Stand up comedian Todd Barry plays his jerk boss at the store, and plays him very well.

You really feel all the shame and mid life angst of this fifty something wash out. Rourke makes you believe the character is real. The picture is almost shot like a documentary. I was really surprised that the movie didn't delve into drug addiction as heavily as you'd expect from a profession that cuts decades off your life. It touches on pain killers, steroids, and cocaine but doesn't beat you over the head with it. Looking back, it made the movie flow better without it.

It's the "wrestling equivalent" of Rocklahoma, which is basically an 80's glam metal nostalgia concert they put on last summer. Spin wrote a great article about these aging rockers who were pushed out of the business, but still feel they have something to contribute. In reality, they weren't that great to begin with, and blame Kurt Cobain, Eddie Vedder, and Billy Pumpkin for all their shortcomings. It's an excuse to act like teenagers and get away with it. And by "get away with it," it means nobody is watching, and nobody cares. Google it...Rocklahoma...it happened. Go Jackyl!

Marisa Tomei does a fantastic job as the...you guessed it...stripper/potential love interest. It's neat to see her character's life parallel his, as they both come to the realization that they're too old to lead this lifestyle. And the tacked on nude scenes do more to prove that Marisa is identifying with her character's dilemma of age versus beauty.

Evan Michael Thomas Rachel Peter Bobby Wood, or whatever her name was...does well with the role she's given. She had a tough role to play. The forgotten daughter who you feel bad for, but realize you're supposed to feel mixed emotions toward by the way she treats him. He deserves her scorn, but you've invested so much time getting to know him that you're still on his side no matter what. She even makes you think she's gone over the top when she shuts him out. Speaking of Over the Top...there should be more arm wrestling movies. Speaking of predictable...how easy was it to make her a lesbian when we already know she has daddy issues?

Speaking of easy, how easy is it to write a movie like this? Take the 1999 documentary Beyond the Mat, and write a screen play around it. Mickey Rourke plays Jake "The Snake" Roberts Light. Diet Snake, if you will. Estranged daughter, feeling of isolation, chemical dependency, high school gym performances into your 50's, and old school nostalgia.

So...ultimately, I rate movies on the View-It-Again-o-Meter as I'm sure most of our generation does. The scale is cynical. Simple, yet complex. I'll nerd it up for general explanation:

A Classic! Total DVD purchase material: Empire Strikes Back
Great Movie. Probably watch it one day for free on Cinemax (on demand), but no rush: Return o/t Jedi
A Movie. I saw it. I took nothing from it. More hype than film, continued pointless mythology: Episode III
Gyp! A movie that you saw but couldn't believe you watched it: Phantom Menace/Attack of the Clones


So...The Wrestler was a "Great Movie." One day I'll view it again and remember the time I first saw it with fondness. It's exactly what you would expect from a "sports film." Or...a "sports entertainment movie."