Dvd
The Wrestler
The great Mickey Rourke (who won the BAFTA and Golden Globe for this role, but cruelly missed the Oscar) returns as broken down grappler Randy Robinson. Directed by Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain), The Wrestler won the Golden Lion at Venice Film Festival.
Randy's glory days in the ring are long gone. Old, alone and estranged from his only daughter (Evan Rachel Wood), he now works the independent wrestling curcuit. After a heart attack, he's told by doctors to stop wrestling. But for Randy, life outside the ring can be more burtal than in it. Marisa Tomei stars as his companion, a stripper similarly well past her prime.
Starring Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood, Mark Margolis, Todd Barry, Wass Stevens
Directed by Darren Aronofsky ('The Fountain', 'Requiem for a Dream', 'Pi')
Written by Robert D. Siegel
Festivals & Awards Best Actor for Mickey Rourke - BAFTA Awards 2009. Best Actor (Drama) for Mickey Rourke - Golden Globes 2009. Winner of the Golden Lion - Venice Film Festival 2008.
Sport, Drama | 1hr 49mins | Rated (R16) | contains violence, offensive language, drug use & sex scenes | Origin: USA | NZ Distributor: Hopscotch | Official Site »
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Flicks review
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5
On first glance, this looks like Rocky goes wrestling. Upon closer inspection, it’s more a modern day Raging Bull where the protagonist becomes a touchstone for loneliness and self-destruction.
As a a washed up, self-deluded pro-wrestler, Mickey Rourke deserves every superlative that has been directed towards him. The amount of authenticity and emotional gravity he brings to the role of Randy the ram lifts the pathos and tragedy to another level. The role bears a strong resemblance to his own career and he could almost be accused of playing himself, but the blurry line between the real and fantasy worlds is one of the film’s greatest assets.
Director Aronofsky discards the flashy montages of his earlier work to focus intently on character with a bare bones, hand-held aesthetic. The nature of performance and the addictive cheers of the crowd are expressed in a painfully humane fashion that transcends preconceptions of wrestling and its questionable cultural and artistic value. Marisa Tomei’s role as an aging stripper is the perfect romantic counterpoint to Rourke, further evidence of the film’s compassionate view of social outsiders.
A brutal but tender character study, The Wrestler is easily the best drama of the year so far.
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The people's reviews
5 reviews
Press Reviews
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Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
This is Rourke doing astonishing physical acting.
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Dominion Post (Graeme Tuckett)
4
I liked this film immensely. I like the way that it has for ever raised the bar for what a sports biopic can be, the way it tells a noisy story with moments of great quietness and insight.
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Empire (UK)
5
An emotional smackdown. Rourke’s never been better, and the change of pace and texture suits Aronofsky perfectly. The Raging Bull of wrestling movies? Oh, go on then.
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Hollywood Reporter
Bolstered by a career-best performance from Mickey Rourke and outstanding work by Marisa Tomei and Evan Rachel Wood.
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Los Angeles Times
The Wrestler doesn't add up. It's constructed with great care around a lead performance that is everything it could possibly be, but the picture itself is off-putting and disappointing.
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New York Times
Like its hero, the movie has a blunt, exuberant honesty, pulling off even its false moves with conviction and flair.
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NZ Herald (Peter Calder)
3
He goes looking for part of his past, but the result is a cliched and implausible subplot. It's a shame that the price of seeing one of the truly great performances of this or any year is sitting through the dross that contains it.
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Total Film (UK)
5
Aronofsky’s most authentic film refuses to ridicule the amateur wrestling circuit, while Rourke’s portrait of a has-been will surely be the comeback of the year.
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TV3 (Kate Rodger)
5
So much more than you might imagine, and with a powerhouse performance full of such vulnerability, gut honesty and tenderness from Mickey Rourke this really is one of the films of the year.
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Variety (USA)
Rourke creates a galvanizing, humorous, deeply moving portrait that instantly takes its place among the great, iconic screen performances. An elemental story simply and brilliantly told, Darren Aronofsky's fourth feature is a winner from every possible angle.
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