The Wrestler – DVD Review

Film, Reviews, Top Story

thewrestler

The Wrestler has received much praise since it’s release with most of the laurels directed towards Mickey Rourke’s performance. It’s been hailed as his comeback performance. He was nominated for an Oscar and won the Golden Globe. But the problem with films that receive this much praise is that they get built up so much that by the time you see it you wonder what all the fuss is about. So the question is: It is worth all the hype?

Randy is a washed up wrestler who still does matches on the weekends and works part-time at a grocery store during the week, barely making enough to keep a roof over his head. He spends much of his time at a strip club, specifically with one named Cassidy who he likes a lot. After a heart attack he is told he can never wrestle again. He attempts to reconcile with his estranged daughter and ultimately must decide if he wants to wrestle again, despite the dangers. It is a wonderful character study and slice of life film. So what is the answer to the above question?

I’m happy to report that the answer is an emphatic yes! The Wrestler does live up to it’s acclaim and it is most certainly worth your time. First and foremost this film is great because of Mickey Rourke. Rourke completely loses himself in Randy “The Ram” Robinson. You completely believe in who this character is even though he is thoroughly flawed you root for him in everything he does from wrestling matches to trying to patch things up with his estranged daughter.

But it wasn’t Rourke alone who made this film. He had two fantastic actors along with him. Marisa Tomei plays Cassidy, the stripper he’s in love with and Evan Rachel Wood plays his daughter Stephanie. Wood is really good and certainly holds her own with Rourke, but it is Tomei that is really worthy of note. The stripper with a heart of gold is a pretty cliched character in Hollywood, but Tomei brings this character to life and you really believe in her struggle to deal with her feelings for Randy.

Behind the camera we also have the fantastic Darren Aronofsky. With Aronofsky’s first three films he developed a very distinct and beautiful cinematographic style. With The Wrestler he throws that out the window to deliver a more documentary style, which elevates the film completely. His normal style would not have fit this film and it says a lot about him as a director to recognize that and trying something completely different.

This isn’t the most pleasant of films to watch, but with a strong story, great directing and phenomenal acting across the board, The Wrestler is great way to spend an evening and I highly recommend it to anyone. You don’t have to be a fan of wrestling to be a fan of this film.

The film is presented in 1.85:1 widescreen and Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. Even with the documentary style, which might turn some off, this film looks and sounds great.

Within The Ring: (42 min.) This is a fantastic making of. It covers everything could possibly want to know, from the different locations that were shot at, to the casting to how they made the film with a very low budget. This was Aronofsky’s first film to be shot without story boards and many of the scenes were ad-libbed.

“The Wrestler” Music Video by Bruce Springsteen Apparently the film was originally titled Abducted Wife.

I don’t like wrestling. I loved this film. The performances were amazing and Rourke’s was easily one of the best of 2008. Don’t worry about all the hype, this movie is worth your time and you haven’t seen it and you should see it as soon as possible.

………………………………………


20th Century Fox presents The Wrestler. Directed by Darren Aronofsky. Written by Robert D. Siegel. Starring Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei and Evan Rachel Wood. Running time: 111 minutes. Rated R for violence, sexuality, nudity, language and some drug use. Released on DVD: April 21, 2009. Available at Amazon.com.

Mike Noyes received his Masters Degree in Film from the Academy of Art University, San Francisco. A few of his short films can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/user/mikebnoyes. He recently published his first novel which you can buy here: https://www.amazon.com/Seven-Days-Years-Mike-Noyes-ebook/dp/B07D48NT6B/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1528774538&sr=8-1&keywords=seven+days+seven+years