The Wrestler

A few years back a documentary came out called Beyond The Mat, in which a film crew went to find out what possesses people to wrestle professionally. The alarming thing you discover is how fucked up some of these people's lives are and it seems to stem from them pursuing their passion. The Wrestler is in a lot of ways the fictional remake of this documentary with Mickey Rourke's Randy "The Ram" Robinson coming across as an amalgam of Jake "The Snake" Roberts, once at the top of the game we find that at the time of filming he's broke, a drug addict, estranged from his daughter and taken to wrestling at any small-scale operation that'll take him, and Terry Funk, who just won't quit even though his body did at least a decade beforehand. Whether you believe their pursuit of their dreams as ludicrous or not doesn't dilute the intense sadness of their situation.

We're introduced to Robinson already washed up with reminders of his status everywhere to be seen. This is a man who still owns a NES because it's the last video game machine to immortalise him, his jacket's held together with tape, his van and home are clapped out and his taste in music is firmly stuck in the 80's. According to him the 90's sucked because Kurt Cobain came along and ruined everything. He just wants his music to be fun. This is a man who refuses to accept that it's over, pushing himself to continue wrestling even though he's done. For him the only thing that's ever meant anything is the adulation of the fans, and they're the only people who still love him. But inevitably the attempts to try and keep going in a "sport" that requires peak physical fitness catch up and The Ram has to face real life for the first time. This entails getting a job behind the deli counter at the local supermarket, asking out his favourite stripper and attempting to reconvene with his estranged daughter, who is now embittered thanks to the years of neglect she had to endure as her father pursued his dreams.

Just like Beyond The Mat, The Wrestler isn't really about wrestling, but rather the men who pushed themselves too far because it's all they know how to do and all they want to do. Witness how The Ram approaches his new everyday job as if it were a match. As he makes his way through the back area of the shop it's apparent how similar it is to the backstage area of an arena. Slowly the sound of fans chanting begins to mix with the hum of the machinery until The Ram approaches the curtain, takes a second to psych himself then bursts through ready to give the public what they want. Shamefully in this case it's ham and potato salad as apposed to bodyslams and Ram Jams.

The rest of the film deals with how Randy adapts to a normal life. His main way in seems to be through stripper Cassidy who kind of mirrors him, she too performs for the crowd and hides behind a name, creating a bubble for herself that shuts out the outside world. She is also past her best, but whereas the crowds still love The Ram, they don't want to know her. She also appears to have shaped a life for herself outside of the stripping which means she may have an avenue that allows her to escape. The problem is for Randy that no matter how things are going with Cassidy, his daughter and his job, there's that nagging itch to get back in front of the crowd, to hear them chant his name. There's also an interesting contrast between him and his arch nemesis, The Ayatollah. He at some point quit wrestling and became a successful car dealership owner. Whereas he sees stepping back into the ring as a bit of fun and a chance to relive his glory years, for Randy it's life and death. He'd rather die out there in front of those who love him than not give his all. It's the sad flaw that has ruined his life up until this point.

The casting of Mickey Rourke to play Randy is a masterstroke. The man shows why he was one of Hollywood's brightest stars with a remarkable performance. It's hard to see how any other actor could have done the character justice given his life story so far. Marisa Tomei is also excellent as Cassidy, although the one mis-step in using her as a stripper who's seen better days is that Tomei still looks incredible nude. It's a minor grumble, if a grumble at all! As for the direction, this is easily Dan Aronofsky's best film. I'll admit to having been left cold by his previous outings, films that felt somewhat empty no matter how well directed that they clearly were. The Wrestler is his most human film, featuring a connection to its characters and genuine emotion that thankfully doesn't reach Requiem For A Dream's histrionics. Instead it's a subtle character piece interspersed with some of the finest wrestling scenes you could hope to see. The positioning of the camera during the fights is incredibly tight, but unlike Christopher Nolan who played his fight scenes too close in his Batman films, Aronofski gets it just right. The viewer is placed in there as if they are a part of the match and it's exhilarating to say the least. And watch out for the final shot, it's a belter!

The Wrestler takes a "sport" that is labelled fake and shows that the passion and the pain that lies behind it is very real. Coupling some excellent directing with an incredible central performance Dan Aronofsky has more than likely made his masterpiece and a film that will be very hard to top in 2009.

P.S. Stay for the end credits to hear Bruce Springsteen's song The Wrestler. It's almost as breathtaking as the film itself.