Review: The Wrestler

Sweet is not the word I thought would best describe The Wrestler.

Darren Aronofsky's latest film treads very familiar ground. The Wrestler is the riches to rags tale of once champion wrestler Randy "The Ram" Ramzinsky trying to find a place in the world outside the ring when he realises his glory days are long passed.

In terms of tone this a seismic shift from Aronofsky's last movie "The Fountain", a film which divided viewers straight down the middle. To say The Fountain was ambitious is an understatement, but whereas that film pondered the nature of death and life on a grand scale, The Wrestler focuses on the smaller and more intimate aspects of real life. Here the director chooses to pull everything back, shooting the film in minimalist docu syle to let the story shine through.


Casting Mickey Rourke as a onetime star turned forgotten washout is almost cheating. Rourke brings that personal baggage to the role in a way that no one else could have done. Anyone who knows and has loved Rourke gets an emotional shortcut to Randy. The performance is staggering yet subtle and nuaced, but crucially, its restrained. With the slightest of glances or a soft sigh Rourke projects twenty years of Randy's suffering and hardship. The down and out underdog is a role we are all familiar with to the point of being jaded by it, but Rourke masters it. The is a softness and yes, sweetness, to Randy and only the most cynical viewer will be unmoved and I daresay everyone else will fall in love with him. It's become a cliche to say this but no other actor could have played the Ram the way Mickey Rourke does. Tour de Force, powerhouse performance whatever you want to call it, Rourke brings it here.

He also brings it physically. The Wrestler can be a very brutal movie. Aronofsky deliberately highlights every cut and every blow. A scene showing a post match Randy having his injuries seen to intercut with quick flashbacks of him receiving them is as unpleasant as it is unflinching. The physical punishment however is balanced by the thrill of the ring. Never for a moment do you wonder why Randy takes these beatings time and again. As he explains it "The only place I get hurt is out there", when he is in the ring he remembers who he is, and that's where the sweetness of this story shines through.

Randy's story is about reflection. In what becomes a signature shot for the film, the camera often follows close behind Randy echoing his long walks from locker room to the ring. In one instance he prepares for his first shift on the deli counter of the local supermarket. As he makes his way from the locker room to the counter a swell of crowd chanting can be heard building and building then instantly silences as he steps onto the shop floor.

Comparisons have been made to the Rocky films, and yes, you could argue there are parallels but that's only on the surface. The Wrestler dares to go deeper, deeper maybe than any sporting bipoic before it. There is a heart and soul to this movie that elevates it above everything else.

This is Aronofsky's best film to date. It's a compelling and fascinating film that features one of the best leading performances I've seen in a while.