The Wrestler Review [3]

Posted by Shawn S. Lealos on 01.29.2009

It might be the best movie ever about professional wrestling, but how does it measure up to the rest of Hollywood?

Directed by Darren Aronofsky
Written by Robert Siegel
Cinematography by Maryse Alberti
Music Score by Clint Mansell

Cast
Mickey Rourke ... Randy “The Ram” Robinson
Marisa Tomei ... Cassidy
Evan Rachel Wood ... Stephanie Robinson
Mark Margolis ... Lenny
Todd Barry ... Wayne
Wass Stevens ... Nick Volpe
Judah Friedlander ... Scott Brumberg
Ernest Miller ... The Ayatollah
Dylan Summers ... Necro Butcher


Rated R for violence, sexuality/nudity, language and some drug use.


The Wrestler is a violent, honest depiction of a man who has lost his way and realizes it is too late to find his way back home. It has been called a career resurrection for its star Mickey Rourke, but it might also have been a wakeup call for the man as well. In Randy “The Ram” Robinson, Rourke might have seen what could have been if not for director Darren Aronofsky writing a new twist into the life of an actor slipping into obscurity.

It is true that the story of Rourke and the fictional Robinson parallel with a frightening resemblance. In the 80s, Rourke was the next big thing but twenty years later was nothing more than a trivia question providing cameos in films by whoever was willing to give the man a chance. Rourke’s career was on life support and Aronofsky gave him what might have been his one last chance to prove to his dwindling fan base he could still be relevant in today’s world. Mickey Rourke delivered on the opportunity in a way that might have surprised everyone except Aronofsky and himself.

Randy “The Ram” Robinson was the Hulk Hogan of this film’s wrestling society. He was on top of the world of professional wrestling, the headliner and main event. At one point he was credited with helping sell out Madison Square Garden for his match against nemesis The Ayatollah (Ernest “The Cat” Miller). It was the equivalent of Hulk Hogan’s feud with the Iron Sheik storyline wise, but might be more comparable to the matches between Hogan and Andre the Giant in scale.

Things have changed since those legendary bouts. The sport has passed Randy by and he hangs on by a string. Many of yesterday’s top stars are today’s minor league celebrities. For every Ric Flair that can still be carted out on WWE television to the excitement of millions of fans world round, there is a Jake “The Snake” Roberts who wrestles for small groups of fans in high school gyms. It is wrestlers like Jake Roberts that this movie relates to.

The 1999 documentary Beyond the Mat features Jake Roberts, Terry Funk and Mick Foley taking the casual fan behind the scenes of the business many observers still consider as a joke. Terry Funk is a man unable to get out of bed in the mornings, constantly in pain, yet maintains a desire - an addiction - to get back into the wrestling ring and do what he does best, body be damned. Mick Foley, despite the pain and suffering of years of abuse, is still willing to let people throw him through tables, light him on fire and have chairs smashed over his head without lifting an arm in protection. Jake is the most tragic story of them all, addicted to drugs and pain killers, allowing his family to slip away from him, and consistently failing to help himself.

It is a combination of these three men that we get an idea of the character of Randy “The Ram” Robinson. He is years past his prime, yet still does everything he can to keep himself in the best shape needed to perform. He is also respected among his peers. Aronofsky allows us to see the wrestlers in the ring as they beat the hell out of each other and then we see the flip side, in the locker room as the heated rivals are men quick to congratulate each other and thank their predecessors for helping them achieve the success they have. They are a band of brothers, always free with a pat on the back, a helping hand, a good word, and maybe even a discount for some illegal painkillers.

In an expertly crafted scene between Randy and Ring of Honor mainstay Necro Butcher, the two are treated for various injuries while flashing back to points in the match when the injuries occurred. Yes, professional wrestling is telegraphed, but this film demonstrates with painstaking detail these men are not simply acrobats and stuntmen who leave the arena unharmed. This scene is a graphic depiction of the devestation the men do to their bodies. It also sets up another scene at a legend’s convention where a number of older wrestlers are sitting at tables, hawking their merchandise for the small handful of fans that drift in. Randy sits at his table and looks around at his fellow wrestlers and the tragedy their lives have become. This is the story of The Wrestler.

The movie paints a brilliant portrait of a man who has watched his dreams pass him by and sees nothing in his future but a dark, black pit of loneliness and despair. It doesn’t matter that Robinson is a wrestler, as it is also seen in the eyes of Cassidy (Marisa Tomei), a stripper who Robinson connects with. It is both pathetic and tragic to see the pairing of Cassidy and Randy throughout the movie. Randy is a lonely man without a family or friends outside of wrestling. That he connects with a stripper, whose job is to make lonely men feel important for money, signifies the low levels of self respect Randy possesses.

However, Cassidy sees the despair and pain resting inside Randy. Randy is a professional wrestler in his later years, a man looked down upon by fans of the younger generation as well as his own contemporaries who see him as a walking punch line. Cassidy can relate, working an occupation with the same life expectancy as that of a wrestler. Just as the sport is always looking for the next big thing, there is always a younger, fresher face walking in the door of her club and it becomes harder and harder for an older veteran of the profession to be respected. The two are very similar and both are painted as tragic figures.

The third major character in the film is Stephanie, Randy’s estranged daughter. This is the most similar aspect to the story of Jake Roberts and, just as in Beyond the Mat, when Randy gets the opportunity to reunite with his daughter, he screws everything up. The strength of this movie is the tragic hopelessness of our lead character. Things take a turn for the dark when Randy suffers a heart attack following his match with Necro Butcher and is told to retire from the only thing he knows how to do. For so many years the man destroyed his body, lived on the edge of excess and threw away everything important to him. In this film, he gets two chances at redemption, one through Cassidy and the other through his daughter.

While the performances are solid from all three leads, the technical aspects of the picture are spectacular as well. The sound editing is amazing. There is a specific music note used when Randy is suffering his heart attack and the sound is repeated at various times throughout the picture, similar to the high pitch frequency of a malfunctioning hearing aid. The significance of the sound represents the heart, whether it is failing or breaking, and it is a wonderful musical cue resonating on a level that never takes away from the performance, only adding to it.

The music of the picture is also wonderfully iconic, bringing back memories of Randy’s glory years. There is a scene in a bar with Randy and Cassidy where they discuss the awesomeness of Guns n Roses and Motley Crue. That is carried over to the soundtrack including such 80s mainstays as Quiet Riot, Ratt and Accept. The music is not only used as background, but at times helps tell the story, such as when Randy is listening to Cinderella sing Don’t Know What You Got (Till It’s Gone). It is fitting that the movie concludes with a new song by another star that maintained great popularity through the 80s, Bruce Springsteen.

The camera also works to tell a story on its own. Most of the camera work was handheld and on many occasions, the camera simply follows Randy. It is as if the camera is watching Randy move on in time, further and further away from the glory of his past. If the theme of the movie is you can’t go back home and Randy’s life is metaphorically over with, the camera allows us to watch as he moves further and further away from redemption. There are nice touches, such as a scene where Randy dances with his daughter and the camera seems to be dancing with them, dipping and swaying around the two. It is amazing camera work and seems to develop a life of its own.

A scene that shows the deterioration of Randy’s mental state happens following his heart attack when he officially retires from competition. He begins to work in the deli at the supermarket he was a stocker in. As he walks to his new job the camera follows him, watching as he continues to move throughout his life. We are an observer, but the film adds small sounds. Listen closely and you will hear what Randy himself has heard for years - fans chanting his name. The sounds come and go until he finally reaches the entrance to the deli and then we clearly hear the fans chanting for “The Ram.” Randy walks through the entrance and the score goes silent. Randy faces his new life, without any cheering fans. He is no longer a hero but a man lost in a life he never chose. Randy “The Ram” Robinson is dead and the real tragedy is there was nothing he could do to stop it.

The 411: The sound, music, camera work, editing and superb acting performances all work together to tell a beautifully tragic story of a man who has lost his path in life. The people he crosses paths with, whether the lost love of his daughter or the unrequited love of Cassidy pushes him further and further in to despair. The film finally asks the one important question of who you live your life for. Randy “The Ram” Robinson sold his soul many years ago. He ravaged his body for the love of his fans and for his own addictive adrenaline rush. While drugs are brought into the story as a mainstay of the locker room, it is not drugs Randy is addicted to. He is addicted to pain and suffering and The Wrestler is a hypnotic homage to everyone who has found the life they live is not the life they planned for.

Final Score:  9.5   [  Amazing ]