“The Wrestler is Mickey Rourke as he takes this story and amplifies it with true raw emotion”
The Wrestler, directed by Darren Aronofsky, staring Mickey Rourke is a drama revolving around a retired, lifelong, Wrestler, Randy “The Ram” Robinson battling against age, failure and loneliness. The Wrestler doesn’t just star Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler is Mickey Rourke as he takes this story and amplifies it with true raw emotion and passion, which for an audience member is totally enthralling.
The Wrestler is shot in a way that you think you’re watching a documentary. The style works as it reflects Randy’s downfall from a National Wrestling Idle to an Amateur/Semi Pro working abusing his body for minimum cash. It builds to a match against a younger opponent that was very uneasy to watch as the choreographed violence was brutal, throwing each other threw panes of glass, hitting each other with barbed wire and using a staple gun as a weapon leading to Randy being sick back stage, passing out to a heart attack.
“He can’t turn his back on something he loves”
The fights in The Wrestler were an intense, grotty and sweaty bout. You observed the Wrestlers in a different world, as they obsess with what goes on in the ring. After Randy’s heart attack, his head kept telling him that he couldn’t do this anymore, whilst surprisingly, his damaged heart tells him to carry on. Randy’s life is in the world of Wrestling; as life outside ring is harder to handle then his choreographed one as a wrestler were he is respected by others and loved by his family of fans; unlike his daughter that hates him due to the neglect he has put her through. As she described there relationship, “is broken and can’t be fixed”
Marisa Tomei role as a stripper provides a balance in Randy’s life as he tried to escape his abnormal world with her. I’m unsure about how important her role was; as for me it seemed pointless building up to nothing.
The Wresteler is a realisation for Randy, as he knows he can’t escape something that has been their all his life. He can’t turn his back on something he loves and that didn’t turn his back on him like everything else in his life.
Verdict: Mickey Rourke made this film what it is. His performance was truly inspirational.
