The Wrestler

I remember back when I was a little kid they hosted a wrestling match at my school, I guess it was to raise funds or something. Events like this were common; in Mexican culture wrestling is similar to boxing, in the sense that there are amateurs everywhere working regular day jobs, including our groundskeeper and one of our teachers. So at that event I climbed into the ring between matches just to mess around and I decided to jump off the ropes and land with my back. To my surprise it was actually really painful; the floor was a lot sturdier than it looked from the seats. At that moment I realized that even though the wrestling was fake many elements where painfully real, for example the guy who played the villain was perfectly likable and humble in real life, but at the same time he was not entirely immune to the booing his character elicited.

And yeah, that is in a nutshell what The Wrestler is about, about careers based on make believe that are none the less filled with dangers and sacrifices. One such character is Randy “The Ram” Robinson (Mickey Rourke), an aging wrestler with a broken body and an empty bank account. The beauty to his beastly features is Cassidy (Marisa Tomei), a single mother who pays her bills by stripping; although her tips are dwindling and the same club rules that protect her from unwanted attention also keeps her from meeting any men. She acts as Randy’s muse and confessor, listening to his stories and gripes while administering $40 lap dances to him. During one of those sessions it comes out that he has an estranged daughter and Cassidy reluctantly agrees to help him win her back.

The other big thing going on in Randy’s life is an offer to go up against an old rival, which he accepts for the money and for one last shot at greatness. Along the way you see him go through some absolutely brutal fights, which are entirely staged but still involve a bit of self inflicted and accidental brutality. That is one of the more interesting yet unpleasant aspects of the movie, how it breaks down the tricks that wrestlers use with almost academic detail. Need to make it look like you cut your forehead open on a post? Slit it with the tip of a razor when nobody is looking. Other things are pure Jackass carnie feats of endurance, such as getting shot repeatedly with a staple gun. And after each fight you watch Randy get every shard of glass pulled out of his body and every gash stitched up so he can do it all again in a few days.

And while the attention to detail and sober cinematography that Darren Aronofsky uses is really enjoyable, it is the performances that elevate this movie from standard film festival fare to being a heavyweight contender. First of all much has been said about how Mickey Rourke is made to play this role but it is also worth noting that he does not sleepwalk through the washed up entertainer routine, instead he burns bright amidst the darkness that is closing around him. Even when reduced to working part time at a deli counter he performs for his small captive audience of cold cut consumers with a touching display of showmanship and charisma. Even though wrestling facilitated the destruction of his life he owns up to all his mistakes and still cracks a smile with his scarred and swollen lips.  Marisa Tomei is simultaneously ignorant and full of logical wisdom, plus there is something oddly taboo about watching a talented award winning actress spend half the movie topless.

Lastly you’ve got Evan Rachel Wood playing Stephanie, the wrestler’s estranged daughter. She artfully provides the emotional explosives that demolish Randy’s barriers and lets us see into the soul of his character. Mix all that with a haunting sense of realism and an appropriate soundtrack of 80’s hair metal and you have got what I consider one of the absolutely best movies of the year.