As surprising as it may be, the subject of Darren Aronofsky's low-budget realist drama manages to bring Mickey Rourke back into the spotlight after more than 15 years of absence. “The Wrestler” is a movie about the struggles of a failed wrestler, as well as it is about the lumbering man-mountain that the leading star has become and, indirectly, about the workout and the bruising, that have made Mickey Rourke what he is today.
From the golden boy of the 1980s, he dramatically lost his way and his looks, due to his misguided determination to be a boxer. In “The Wrestler,” Rourke plays “The Ram” into a certain Oscar nomination after being edging back into Hollywood, most notably in “Sin City,” after an absence of a decade and a half. He embodies a real character, one that you almost think you can actually touch, as a reminder for us all of how full of poetry can be the gesture of an actor who lets himself be viewed as unashamedly gone to seed.
The plot is very simple, “The Wrestler” being mostly a character study which provides the kind of role that an actor cannot live without.
Robert D. Siegel’s screenplay is emphasizing the similarities between the star and his character.
Except for wrestling, Randy “The Ram’s” life is pretty empty. His only “friend” is a stripper, Cassidy, terrifically played by Marisa Tomei who has this rule against mixing business and pleasure therefore she will not hook up with Randy.
When he is feeling down and lonely, Cassidy encourages him to look for his estranged daughter, Stephanie, interpreted by Evan Rachel Wood, whom he finds living with another young woman and assumes they are having a lesbian relationship, which he does not seem to be bothered about at all. The man actually found her to apologize for having disappeared from her life when she was little and to make sure that she does not hate him.
At some point in his career, Randy suffers a heart attack, which requires a bypass. His doctor tells him he has to stop taking steroids, and that he should also stay away from the ring. As a result, the wrestler tries to retire, but when he realizes that Cassidy and Stephanie are out of reach for him, he decides that there is nothing else he can do left other than stay in the ring, even if that means death.
In this movie, Mickey Rourke gives a wholehearted, defence-down performance. For the first time in ages, the star has a chance to show vulnerability and humor and he pulls it off marvelously. He just inhabits the character and lets the camera suck the truth out of him. While he may self-destruct again, for the moment he is enjoying the glory and the satisfaction for the best work done in his career.
“The Wrestler” also turned out to be a comeback for director Darren Aronofsky, whose last film was the metaphysically overblown “The Fountain.”
