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The Wrestler (2008)
An independent review of the Darren Aronofsky film starring Mickey Rourke.
CAST; Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood, Mark Margolis, Todd Berry, Wass Stevens, Judah Friedlander, Ernest Miller, Dylan Keith Summers, Tommy Farra, Mike Miller, Marcia Jean Kuntz, John D’Leo, Ajay Naidu, Gregg Bello and more.
DIRECTOR: Darren Aronofsky
WRITER: Robert D. Siegel
PLOT: A drama centered on retired professional wrestler Randy “The Ram” Robinson as he makes his way through the independent circuit, trying to get back in the game for one final showdown with his former rival.
REVIEW: Although this movie has won awards here there and everywhere, I simply can’t rate it as good as the people making those decisions. For me it is an average film, which only interested me because of the subject matter since I am a wrestling fan of almost twenty years and have down a little wrestling training too.
I feel that the character of Randy Anderson wasn’t layered enough, and to me seemed to be only highlighting certain aspects of the business. To a certain degree I feel that maybe they showed far too much of the inner workings that can only make wrestlers look bad, and not enough of the other aspects involved.
For some time now the wrestling business has been mocked and ridiculed by the main stream in between bouts of being popular and when this movie was first advertised initially I was looking forward to it. However, I feel that this movie simply shows a one sided story of what outsiders might think of the business. In turn a lot of people are going to watch it and assume that’s how things really are, and end up being turned away from the product.
In closing, I feel that as a stand alone sports drama it would not interest me if it wasn’t about wrestling. Had it been say baseball or basketball I wouldn’t have went to see it in the slightest and wonder what difference it would have made if it was. The almost documentary style shooting of the movie I feel damaged it and made it feel like there was no atmosphere. Actually, the first time I watched it I watched it with non-wrestling fans to see their reaction and they turned it off within twenty minutes, stating that it was boring.
An average movie aimed at a niche market, isn’t as good as the awards it has garnered in my humble opinion.
