The Wrestler

Chances are you've heard about Mickey Rourke and The Wrestler. Oscar worthy "heavy-weight" Mickey Rourke is "getting back in the ring" with Darren Aronofsky's new film. It pains me to say that because I've been reading it since The Venice Film Festival but damn it if it isn't true.

The Wrestler pretty much fits the title. It's about a past-his-prime wrestler who now does small gigs on the weekend settling for less than what he'd once achieved. He works part time at a local grocery store and frequently visits a strip club to see Cassidy, another past-her-prime mom trying to earn enough cash to move on and raise her son. But Randy "The Ram" Robinson is a character who, as again I'm sure you've heard, parallels Rourke's life (unintentionally I'm told). Even a phenomenal speech at the end feels like it could be delivered in normal context by Rourke and not be awkward at all. Some of the best scenes in the movie though are with Evan Rachel Wood, Robinson's lost daughter who hates him yet at the same time longs a connection with him. When The Ram has a heart attack he's told he can no longer wrestler which leads to dilemmas for him mentally.

But subtle nuances in the movie make it so special. Aronofsky similarly to Requiem For A Dream pulls no punches (pardon the pun) in showing us the brutality involved in the sport which adds even more to aftermath of The Ram's "work". All the 80's references also add to the passed time for Robinson. Once effective scene has a neighborhood boy playing a wrestling Video Game with Robinson and the boy tries to explain Call of Duty 4. It's a subtle touch that adds to our frustration to the world around Randy "The Ram" Robinson.

Obviously as you've heard Rourke is amazing. But the real struggle hear is who is better: Evan Rachel Wood or the stripper Marisa Tomei. Wood is certainly given the upper edge through audience manipulation. Her scenes are immediately more heartbreaking but Tomei's final scene with the Ram is the best in the movie. Both are certainly Oscar worthy in such a low year for movies.

My final note goes to the score (which I seem to focus a lot on recently but listen for it, its great). Similarly to moments of Hans Zimmer and James Newton's score for The Dark Knight, The Wrestler has an eerie silence about it. The music is sometimes too subtle to forget and changes the impact of scenes. Overall it goes without saying that The Wrestler is one of the best movies of 2008. Grade - A