The Wrestler

The second film I saw this year proved to be just as delightful as the first. For those of you who haven’t seen The Wrestler I strongly recommend it.

The film tells the story of Randy ‘The Ram’ Robinson, an aging wrestler who was once a huge success but now spend his years fighting in minor wrestling league to make end meet. After Randy suffers a heart attack he is told that he can no longer wrestle causing him to work in a supermarket for spare cash whilst at the same time trying to win the love of his once neglected daughter.

I think I can well and truly say that Mickey Rourke owns this film bringing a very human character to the screen. We can truly sympathise with a tortured soul who has lost everything important to him (partially through his own errors) and is remorseful and want it back. One particular powerful aspect of the story was of Rourke’s attempt to make amends with his daughter, the ultimate outcome leaving him truly remorseful.

I feel that this role strongly mirrors Rourke in real life a man who in his own words ‘fucked his career up’.

Worth noting also is Darren Aronovsky’s gritty directing style with its off-the-wall throwaway dialogue and documentary style camera work. One scene particularly impressive is a post match scene where Rourke and an opponent are tending to their wounds whilst we the audience are treated to flashbacks displaying how they got those said wounds. This is proper cringe worthy material.

The masterstroke for me however was the end scene involving Rourke in a comeback wrestling match. However this is different to your average wrestling/boxing match scene as it involves the lead character having a heart condition preventing his ability to fight. As a viewer I was absolutely caught up in the drama and suspense knowing that he may well die in this fight. Suddenly the screen fades to black, cue the end credits. The reason for this is that you’re not meant to know whether he survived or not. I felt that this was the perfect way to end the film because it left a sense of ambiguity.

Some people didn’t understand this and therefore immediately claimed they didn’t like the film as a result. As fellow film student Matt Waters said “some people just don’t get things.”
I personally loved this film. It was depressing in the best sense. I do like Rocky (the first one) but for me this is quite simply better.

5 STARS