The Wrestler movie review

Watching Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler, there will be times that you find yourself thinking that you are watching a documentary rather than a fictional film. The guy looks like he's lived through a thousand hells, so when he's playing a down and out wrestler, you believe it.

In The Wrestler, Rourke plays Randy "The Ram" Robinson. The Ram's star may have shone bright in the 80's, but it has long since faded. Randy now earns a living working at a local supermarket during the week and doing small scale wrestling shows on the weekends. To be blunt, Randy doesn't seem to have a whole lot to look forward to, his future is bleak. He has a daughter that hates him, struggles to earn enough to pay his rent and therefore spends a lot of time basically living out of his van. When a promoter offers him a 20th anniversary rematch to celebrate the most famous match of career, it seems like he finally has something to work toward.
In a homage to Rocky, The Ram goes about preparing himself for his next big match, with a view to the anniversary rematch. He takes pain medication, sleeps in his van, works out, goes to a tanning salon, buys up on steroids and visits his favorite local strip club, where he's clearly taken a liking to Cassidy (aka. Pam when she's not performing) played by Marissa Tomei.

Following his brutal hardcore match, Randy has a heart attack and undergoes a triple bypass. He's warned not to overly exert himself. That means no more steroids, and no more Wrestling. Randy is forced into retirement. So what is a buffed up and broken former wrestler to do with his life? Well, he can try and crack onto his favorite stripper, he can work longer hours at his local supermarket, and he can try and reconcile with his daughter. For a while, things seem to be going along fine for the Ram. All it takes though, is for one piece of the puzzle to combust, and the whole house of cards bursts into flames, or something to that effect. Cue the scene where Randy drowns his sorrows, snorts cocaine and shags a blonde chick with a firefighter fetish.

With his life once again on the skids, and against the best advice from the medical profession, Randy decides that the ring is the only place that he'll ever be happy. His big rematch is back on...

What happens next? I can't say without spoiling the ending.

The Wrestler is an interesting film. On the one hand it churns out some of the same sort of cliches you expect from a sporting based film, but on the other hand it also choke slams some of them as well. For example, throughout the entire film I sat there thinking to myself, "I know how this is going to end", yet, as it turns out, I didn't. The Wrestler is a performance driven character piece, and not something you should watch for intricate plotting. It's bleak, dark, and you can't help but feel that Randy's path is one that Mickey Rourke may have tread, at least partly, himself. The film has a very candid, documentary style, feel about it.

It's not all bleak though. You do get to see Marissa Tomei's boobs, and let's face it, that's probably going to be enough to get a few punters through the door alone.

If you've seen the documentary "Beyond the Mat" then some of what you'll see in The Wrestler may seem family, and I believe that "Beyond the Mat" may have served as more than a little inspiration for the script.

Overall, The Wrestler is a good film. Mickey Rourke's performance is worthy of the praise that has been heaped upon it so far, and it's hard to see anyone else in the role. You don't have to be a wrestling fan to appreciate this film. I'd give it 4 out of 5.