> The Wrestler
Directed by: Darren Aronofsky
Cast: Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood, Mark Margolis, Todd Barry, Wass Stevens, Judah Friedlander.
Rating: M
Five stars
Review by Mark Orton
It could have been a clichéd story about a journeyman living off his glory days, but The Wrestler takes more than a flying clothesline at the formula, courtesy of some fantastically gritty performances, including the sadly underrated Marisa Tomei as Cassidy.
But, it is Rourke's performance as Randy (The Ram) Robinson that ignites a voyeuristic fascination into the seedy side of pro wrestling.
There is nothing glamorous about broken-down athletes bashing themselves senseless in the cesspits of small-town USA.
Steroids, injuries, poverty, premature death: it's all here, and credit must go to the wrestling fraternity for airing its dirty linen.
Sure, the role is perfectly written for Rourke, given his legendary bad-boy background, but so what?
Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream) still had to get the performance out of the notoriously unreliable Rourke, and judging by the extreme self-pitying emotion leaking from the scarred creases on The Ram's face, he pushed all the right buttons.
Best thing: Mickey Rourke. Enough said.
Worst thing: Realising that some of the hopeless cases are actually playing themselves.
See it with: An appreciation of the physical demands of professional wrestling.
