The Wrestler

"The Wrestler" features a tour de force lead performance by Mickey Rourke as Randy "The Ram" Robinson who is at least 2 decades past his wrestling prime, but still wrestles in very small venues to make ends meet, as time in the ring has ravaged his body and finds that his life currently rings rather hollow for his circumstances.

Director Darren Aronofsky takes a documentary-style approach to a story told very linearly, as the story gains a foothold when Randy is finally at crossroads with his life in and out of the ring. Aronofsky is very economical in his choices because the story is about Randy coming to terms with his past while trying to come to grips with an uncertain future while seeking a state of grace.

In service to such a basic "aging athlete down-on-his-luck as time betrays his body" story, the straight forward manner in which the story is told sheds a much more intimate insight into Randy's daily existence, and into the human condition itself, and how his flawed humanity lends itself to mirroring the inevitable human journey from youth and virility to wisdom and frailty.

Given such a storytelling device, character motivations aren't dwelled upon, but rather we simply experience how characters relate to one another based on hints from past transgressions (mainly between Randy and his estranged daughter, played by Evan Rachel Wood in a very good supporting effort), and the same goes for his dalliance with a stripper, Cassidy, who's a bit long in the tooth for her line of work (Marisa Tomei is certainly up to the task, and still in marvelous shape) which parallels Randy's own personal earnings struggles while performing in the ring (or on the stage for Cassidy).

It's a well-told story, but sometimes I think the quasi-documentary style creates just enough of a wall between the viewer and the film that it's only slightly undermined by its lack of sentimentality, but it's a minor quibble of a fine film that features a powerhouse performance by Rourke, one that I am 99% positive will garner him a Best Actor nomination next week when they announce the Oscar nominations.

I give it 3.75 stars, or a grade of A-.