The Wrestler Review- By Michael Carlisle

Title: The Wrestler

Year: 2008
Director: Darron Aronofsky
Country: U.S
Language: English

Darron Aronofsky’s The Wrestler is a gripping story about a man who has only one talent and stays with this talent because it’s the only thing that makes him joyful, it’s the only thing that makes him feel loved.  This talent is professional wrestling. Wrestling? You say, isn’t that fake?  Well as legendary wrestling announcer  Jim Ross  would exclaim  “How do you learn to fall off a twenty foot ladder??”  Perhaps there is some script acting, the “heel” isn’t necessarily a “heel” in real life , but I’m sure if you asked Mick Foley or perhaps Owen Hart (oh wait you can’t, he died in the ring)  they would tell you that a lot of “fake” wrestling  is actually pretty real.

Or fake being speared through a table of fire with tacks in your back?

Interestingly enough Aranofsky chooses  to place some great importance on backstage details about wrestling.  Working out in gyms, patching themselves up, getting dressed. We learn how they set up the outcomes of these matches, how they prepare for a hardcore match, where they buy the weapons they hit against each other. Still this planning doesn’t classify their profession as “fake” as they still van get very hurt, how can you fake falling on a bunch of tacks?

Mickey Rourke stages his onscreen and off-screen comeback as  the battered, bruised and down on his luck, Randy “the Ram” Robinson.  Randy is a face wrestler, much like Hulk Hogan, who has burned almost every bridge in his life besides wrestling, much like Hulk Hogan. He is socially awkward which makes for a sour relationship with his estranged daughter Stephanie (Evan Rachel Wood), whom he thinks is a lesbian, and no chance of anything serious romantic-wise with his stripper friend Candace (Marisa Tomei).

Rourke seems perfect for this role as, like Randy,  his person life and professional career has been on many ups and downs. Rourke used to be quite the handsome man, until  became a professional boxer and got the handsome punched out of him. Rourke is a great fan of boxing and wrestling, so he put a lot of effort in this role, he definitely looks the part.  The actions Rourke does in the film, such as getting staples in his chest, look legitimate. If there are any special effects in this film, they are greatly hidden. I applaud Aranofsky and Rourke for not needing to use special effects.

One criticism I have of this film is the flimsy writing in terms of Randy "the Ram" Robinson's heart condition. In one scene he refuses to have a lapdance because it might hurt his heart, in another he can do cocaine while having sex and nothing happens to him. As a person with a heart condition who has talked to many people with hear conditions I can confidently say that he would have died from having sex while high on cocaine. It's also odd that his heart is strong enough to withstand sex on cocaine yet too weak for a short wrestling match. Randy's heart condition seems to come and go whenever it suits the story.

 In conclusion,  if you want to understand more about  the profession of wrestling both onstage and off then this is the film for you. The Wrestler is not a unique story though, there are a lot of “washed up” redemption films out there. One could argue that 2009’s Crazy Heart works the similar story better. However, Rourke is the heart of The Wrestler, his passion and energy, and dedication  to Randy “the Ram” Robinson makes the film much better than it would be without him. 3.5/5

Featured: More falling from dangerous heights