[DVD Review (R2)] THE WRESTLER
The Wrestler is one of those movies that, on paper, doesn’t sound like it’s going to be that entertaining. I mean, a movie, starring an actor who pissed his career away, about a washed up wrestler trying to relive the glory days directed by a director who is well known for his genre movies, but not much else.
Now, while all that I’ve written above is true- but what is also true is the undenialble truth that The Wrestler is every bit as good as you’ve heard. In fact, it might even be better!
The Wrestler tells the tale of Randy “The Ram” Robinson (played by Mickey Rourke) a once topflight wrestler who had a big pay-per-view fight in the 1980′s, his own Nintendo game and all the other trappings that come with being a wrestling star, but who now lives for the times he is taking part in regular, lower key wrestling matches in sports halls and community centres.
Then he is offered the chance to relive a previous glory by having a rematch against The Ayatollah, his one time “adversary”, at a wrestling convention. Grabbing this oppertunity with both hands, Randy starts training and taking part in more and more wrestling matches – until his heart gives out.
Now, no longer able to wrestle, Randy faces his own morality and the mistakes he has made, and with the help of possibly the only person he is honest with, a girl who works at a local strip joint who has more than her fair share of issues, tries to rebuild his life and relationships.
So what can I say about this movie which hasn’t been said already? Probably nothing, but it has to be said – you really care about the main character. Randy might be a bit of an arse but at the same time he is played with such warmth and believiabilty by Mickey Rourke that you care what happens to him throughout. You really want him to be happy and rebuild his relationship with his daughter and find a place in the world where he can be happy now it appears his wrestling career is over. And the final wrestling match against The Ayatollah is one of the most moving things I have ever witnessed. And Rourke inhabits the role totally. This isn’t an actor just “playing” a part – he truly does seem to become the aging wrestler and the movie is greater for that.
Running alongside the main story of Randy “The Ram” is the story of Cassidy (played by Marisa Tomei), an aging stripper working at a strip joint frequented by Randy. As with Randy and his nearing the end of his wrestling career, she is nearing the end of her stripping life as more and more younger girls start working but unlike Randy she seems to have a plan for when she retires. And it is Cassidy who starts to help Randy build bridges with his estranged daughter and, even though she constantly says she won’t date “customers”, their is an obvious attraction and connection between the pair. And this also rings totally believable.
The whole film is shot in a very raw, documentary-esque style, as if we are watching a retrospective on the career of a now nearly forgotten star (which in a way we are) and brings the believabily of the characters totally to life. And it really is controlled with absolute brilliance by Darren Aronofsky, who has always been one of my favourite directors, and proves that he is much more than a niche director. There is a level of craft and care with this movie that is so totally heartfelt that you can see just how much Aronofsky cares about his characters and the world they are living in.
Basically, the whole thing adds up to one of the best movies I have seen in a long time. If, like me, you never got a chance to see this in the cinema then I urge you to go and buy it on DVD right now as it is truly an amazing piece of cinema. I cannot possibly comment on Sean Penn’s performance in Milk winning the Best Performance By An Actor In A Leading Role Oscar at the 2009 Academy Awards, as I am still to see Milk but, quite honestly, going by Mickey Rourke’s performance here either Sean Penn was totally stunning or Mickey Rourke was very harshly robbed of an Oscar for a very deserving performance!
The Extras
Such an amazing movie really deserved an amazing, extras laden, DVD release. Or at least a commentary track by Aronofsky and Rourke, but unfortunately we don’t get that. What we do get is a 43 minute documentary called “Into The Ring” which details the making of the movie and, with all of the main cast and crew turning up to offer their insights, truly is an interesting and entertaining “making of” and is well worth a look.
The only other extra, apart from the trailer, is an interview with Mickey Rourke. With the questions appearing on title cards this originally feels like a standard PR piece, but Rourke is so honest and open that it soon transcends that and is most certainly worth watching.
All in all, this is a wonderful movie. If you are not moved by the final scenes then I think you’d better get to the hospital as I fear you may already be dead and, even if it is missing a commentary track, the extras on the disc are of a good enough quality for it not to be missed too much.
And I’m about to do something that I don’t think I have ever done before as this is the best movie I have seen so far in 2009:
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7 Responses to “[DVD Review (R2)] THE WRESTLER”
As a wrestling fan, this movie strikes a particular chord with me. I’ve seen plenty of docs on former wrestler who turn out EXACTLY LIKE THIS. It’s uncanny. Rourke really did do a fantastic job here.
And I am convinced that Sean Penn won because he played a real person, a gay person, and a person who dies at the end of the movie. That’s the Oscar trifecta right there.
Well Kris thats because the people who give out Oscars are a worthless pile of shit
They only give oscars to movies if they were about a one legged black kid who overcame his difficult sircumstance and won the 20 mile dash and bought his gay dad an artificial heart.
No matter how good this movie really is it WILL get the oscar because it was a stupid drama, and its bullshit
Okay I saw Slumdog and I have to say that it really had nothing On TDK, Wall-e or Frost Nixon, but no, they just wont nominate a movie about superheroes no matter HOW GOOD it is or an animated movie because- who gives a shit? its a kids movie right?
And of course Frost Nixon wasnt about nazis raping babies who had cancer with moms who miraculously escaped and became famous for eating raccoon for 50 days before being rescued
See, the oscars only give oscars to those types of movies, and its bullshit
I really am not surprised that tyhe movie about a poor iondian kid who won a money show game won
Or that the actor that played the gay politician won
Not surprised, at all
I mean how ****ing awesome was DTK? Slumdog was great but i didnt see it 8 times like TDK or 4 like Wall-e
Now my money for next years oscar will be on either the Soloist because its a stupid **** drama or maybe if they come out with some Holocaust movie that on will win, no matter how boring it is
(actually the soloist looks really good, but cmon)
And this movie was so sad..omg.
I saw it online the first time i saw it, now on DVD, i never got to see it in the movies but i bought the dvd after seeing it online
And holy shit it was freaking depressing
Shutter Island or Public Enemies will win best pic this year
And personally, I think The Soloist looks mediocre, I could see it as a Best Pic nom, but I don’t think it will get it. From the trailer, it looks like a great concept that could have worked but it also looks like the used the wrong actors, because I wasn’t buying anything in the trailer.
The Soloist got laughable reviews. No nominations for that thing.
And I’ll have a review of Up in a few days.
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