Luke’s Favorite Films Take Two: #82

#82: The Wrestler (2008)

Director: Darren Aronofsky
Starring: Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei and Evan Rachel Wood
Academy Awards: Nominated twice. Mickey Rourke for Best Actor and Marisa Tomei for Best Supporting Actress.
Plot: “A faded professional wrestler must retire, but finds his quest for a new life outside the ring a dispiriting struggle.”
Stock: Down
Previous Ranking: #58

“The only place I get hurt is out there. The world don’t give a shit about me.”

Sometimes a movie can be decently written and tell an okay story yet still be a great film because of the acting. The Wrestler fits that description. It centers around Mickey Rourke who gives one of the best acting performances of my lifetime.

It comes off as a documentary because of how good Mickey portrays Randy “The Ram” Robinson. I had never heard of Rourke prior to The Wrestler but it’s been labeled as a “comeback” for Mickey. Make no mistake, after watching The Wrestler, Rourke became one of my favorite actors and had me very excited for his Iron Man debut the following summer. He was that good as Randy.

Besides Rourke’s spectacular job, the ending of this film is perfect, there’s just no other way to describe it. Randy is dealing with several issues, both mental and physical, and the ending magnificently chronicles all of his decisions with one single shot.

Was I rooting for Rourke to win the Academy Award he was up for?? You better believe it. Was I bitter when Sean Penn won for Milk?? None whatsoever. That’s a great aspect of the Oscars, sometimes it’s just as important that you get nominated as it is that you win.

UPDATE

Yes, Rourke is excellent, but the rest of the movie isn’t outstanding in any particular way. The cinematography is well done, but the script leaves a lot to be desired. Because of the poor writing, it drops The Wrestler a couple of spots and will make it interesting to see if Rourke can continue to carry this film to a top-100 spot moving forward.

Fun Fact: The film reportedly moved wrestler Roddy Piper so much, he broke down and cried after a screening.

Hint for #81: The actor who got sucked up by a tornado in #83 loses a foot in #81.

Peace Be The Journey.