The Wrestler

Director by Darren Aronofsky

Writte by Robert D. Siegel


Mickey Rourke ... Randy 'The Ram' Robinson
Marisa Tomei ... Cassidy
Evan Rachel Wood ... Stephanie Robinson

Rated R
Runtime: 1 hr. 55 mins.


Thinking on this movie makes me profoundly sad. But that's on me. The characters in the movie make choices that I'm not sure are right, that may in fact cause themselves more hurt, but I'm not sure that they're unhappy with these choices. I suppose that's what life is. A bunch of people trying to find their way. And who can tell someone else which is the best path to take?

Just ask Mickey Rourke. He turned his back on a, well, it was more than promising, it was a flourishing career. For what? To box. Regrets? Now, yes. Perhaps at the time it needed to be done. It brought him to this moment, and if I can be selfish, I am so glad. It's rumored that the studio wanted Nicolas Cage in the role. I'm not going to judge whether he would have done better or worse. That performance isn't the one on screen, so how could I? What I can say is I can't imagine any other actor in this role.

It's pointless to try and say how much and when Rourke draws on his personal story. Only currently do we have that luxury. When I first saw The Verdict, I immediately knew Paul Newman gave an incredibly brave, incredibly vulnerable performance. Only later did I learn that he had struggled with alcoholism, certainly informing his role. I believe Rourke's performance will stand in a similar way.

This role is Randy "The Ram" Robinson, a professional wrestler. Professional in the strictest sense: he's getting paid. For his wrestling? Ostensibly, yes, but in reality, it's for his past glories. Which is OK because he hasn't been able to leave them behind. He's never left the profession. In a sense, he's ageless. In one of the film's most heartbreaking scenes, we watch as he looks around and it dawns on him just how long ago those days might be.

During the week, he does autograph "conventions" which are little more than wrestlers sitting at folding tables in V.F.W. halls. He also works in a storeroom at a grocery store. He's having trouble making rent and asks the store manager if there are more hours. Only on the weekends, he's told. But that's when he's wrestling. In his free time, he plays Mike Tyson's Punch-out with the neighbor kids in his trailer park. Occasionally, when funds allow, he visits the strip club and his favorite dancer, Cassidy (Marisa Tomei).

This tenuous, strung-together life crashes when he has a heartattack. He's told by his doctor he'll have to quit wrestling. Where does he turn? To the only person whom he sees fairly regularly: Cassidy. He tries to bring the intimacy shared in the strip club to the outside world. She sees a hurting man, but she's seen them before and she needs to keep her job.

I'd like to pause and recognize Marisa Tomei. Rumors still abound that she didn't actually win the Academy Award for My Cousin Vinny. That her work after "proved" she didn't deserve it. I hope that this third nomination and her excellent work in last year's Before the Devil Knows You're Dead can finally put this to rest.

Cassidy too has been in her profession for too long, another profession that hinges upon perceived wear-and-tear, and is beginning to see that perhaps it is passing her by. However, where The Ram is trying desperately maintain, Cassidy's stuggle is questioning, "What's next?" It's this inner struggle that Tomei is so effective at conveying. And the little moments, like when she makes a wrestling doll speak for her. It's an adorable, girlish moment from someone whom we hadn't thought of in this light. Perhaps those are her glory days.

Ruminations, ruminations, ruminations. The movie invites them, asks them to stay and talk over coffee.

Evan Rachel Wood, also often written-off (that Aronofsky, I think he knew what he was doing) as a wildchild and Marilyn Manson's ex, once more displays the chops so evident in Thirteen. She plays Randy's daughter whom he tries to reconnect with, a part of his life he abandoned. She only has three scenes, but they are incredibly raw and powerful.

With this movie, Aronofsky establishes himself as a master filmmaker. Pi and Requiem for a Dream are incredible, but their success was more dependent on nailing the technical aspects. While the brutal fights are well-done and an incident when The Ram works in the deli reminds us of Requiem's climax, it's Aronofsky's handling of the subtler aspects (casting, acting, story) that demonstrate how skilled he is. Perhaps his greatest accomplishment is keeping the film from being overwrought, a trap for a story that can be described as a melodrama. It can't hurt that your movie has three of the best performances of the year.