Randy “The Ram” Robinson (Mickey Rourke) was one of professional wrestling’s biggest superstars in the 1980s, performing in huge arenas, featured in video games, and even turned into an action figure. Now, however, he works part-time at a grocery store during the week and wrestles in half-empty New Jersey high school gymnasiums for a little cash on the weekends. He lives in a trailer park and is frequently behind on his rent. After a particularly grueling match, Randy has a heart attack. When he recovers from bypass surgery, he’s told that he can never wrestle again.
Randy tries to make things work in the “real world.” He gets a job at the grocery store deli on the weekends and attempts to repair his relationship with estranged daughter, Stephanie (Evan Rachel Wood). Realizing how lonely he has become, Randy tries to form a bond with Cassidy (Marisa Tomei), an aging stripper he frequently goes to see. Looming over the promise of this new life is a promoter’s idea of a rematch with The Ram’s 1980s wrestling nemesis, The Ayatollah (Ernest Miller). They sold out Madison Square Garden twenty years ago. Could a rematch start a second run at fame for The Ram?
Mickey Rourke’s performance as Randy “The Ram” is raw and heartbreaking. Rourke undoubtedly channeled some of his own experiences for the role, as much of his life mirrors that of Randy “The Ram.” Like Randy, Rourke was once at the top of his game — albeit acting, not wrestling — and fell out of the spotlight even though he kept working in mostly little-seen films. If he was waiting for the right role to redeem his career, The Wrestler has certainly provided it. Rourke does a phenomenal job portraying what happens to a man when he fixates on the one thing in his life that he’s good at even if it destroys himself and everything around him in the process.
Director Darren Aronofsky and writer Robert D. Siegel have crafted a film that may shock some people as they find out what happens to old wrestling superstars when they step out of that spotlight. The insight into professional wrestling’s independent circuit — where many of the old wrestlers eventually find themselves — will probably surprise those who think that wrestling is simply fake blood, pulled punches, and choreography. As a former wrestling fan, I can assure you that what’s displayed here is not terribly exaggerated.
Mickey Rourke’s performance has garnered a lot of attention, but the film also features outstanding supporting work by Marisa Tomei as Cassidy, the stripper with whom Randy has fallen in love. Like Rourke, she was nominated for an Academy Award and, also like Rourke, she deserved it. Her character struggles with letting go of her past almost as much as Randy. Tomei does a great job portraying the character’s hunger for better things and the defensive position she takes when anything threatens that fragile dream.
Adding to the atmosphere is a soundtrack chock full of fist-pumping 1980s hair metal. “They don’t make ’em like that anymore,” says Randy as he sings Ratt’s “Round and Round” in a bar. He’s right.
While it’s certainly not perfect, The Wrestler is an outstanding film. I recommend it as a great drama much more than simply a movie about wrestling.
4.5 out of 5.0 stars
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