| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| BaftaBaby |
Posted - 12/01/2008 : 12:28:20
The Wrestler
Whatever you thought of Darren Aronofsky's The Fountain, his latest is nothing like it in every way. It may take a while to get going, but if you stay with it you're in for a treat.
Shot almost like a behind-the-scenes documentary it stars Mickey Rourke giving a truly remarkable portrait of a has-been fighter who's forced to come to terms with reality. It might be a parallel to Rourke's own troubled career, but as a demonstration of acting it must have been a key factor in the film's Golden Lion award for Best Picture at this year's Venice Festival.
From everything one can discover about Rourke, he's the kind of guy whose cheeky handsome face I could lust over in his early cinema career, and whose innate talent I can greatly admire in these comeback years, but whose personal values I'm pretty sure confim I wouldn't ever invite him for supper.
Now that his looks - badly damaged either in the pro boxing arena or a traffic accident - have been salvaged by some bad surgery into something resembling a melting John Carpenter candle, it's the acting that matters.
There's hardly a story beyond two people hiding from who they are by putting on a public persona to mask the pain of aging, of awakening from once-bright dreams to a grim reality that can be accepted or destroyed.
Ray The Ram, once a headlining wrestler with trademark long dyed-blonde hair like Veronica Lake on a bad day, has been pushing himself to keep up with ever-more dangerous challenges to satisfy the blood-lust of fans. Personally I've never seen the appeal of wrestling and couldn't understand as a kid why my apparently meek little grandparents were avid tv watchers of the sport. Hell, I didn't even think it was a sport, and after many tabloid shock-horror revelations of fixes over the years, it's now classed, I believe, as an entertainment. Which hasn't stopped the fans baying for even more blood.
But even Rams get tired and this one is already in hock to a vicious cycle of drugs to keep bulked-up like an awkwardly wrapped gift, which alter his moods and affect his sleep, let alone his potency. His favorite lap dancer is more likely to get a conversation these days than induce a hard-on. Ram's convinced he's something special in her life, and maybe he even loves her.
To her, he's just a client. She's got her own realities and dancing as Cassidy covers much more offstage than her skimpy onstage costume. Marisa Tomei brings far more to the role than the script demands; she precisely judges every moment. When her big revelations hit, both she and we are surprised and moved.
The lightning that strikes Ram is a heart attack. Not particularly original, but a story-logical catalyst that plunges him into a level of emotional conflict that completely overshadows his physical bouts. The scenes of him trying to adjust to a normal life, and of trying to reconcile suspended relationships reveal a range of acting skills Rourke has always had, but not always been asked to deliver.
I was going to say the film looks European, but what it looks is independent. I hope it gets a wide-enough release to convince movie-goers that films that have no-holds barred beat-em-ups and tits and ass, can also engage on a far deeper level.
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| 10 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| silly |
Posted - 05/06/2009 : 19:16:51
I finally watched this last night, and loved it.
Perhaps I can relate a bit too well to the "waking up and realizing you're past your prime" theme. Some of it was predictable, I suppose, but it really came together well. Tomei was incredible.
It felt a lot more "real" to me than another recent has-been movie, Rocky Balboa. Or was that Rambo? No, wait, Live Hard or Die Free. They're all running together...  |
| randall |
Posted - 05/04/2009 : 03:56:05
I felt I knew too much about it ahead of time. Everybody's right, blah blah blah, but I'd already seen the best moments with Tomei and Wood on clip shows or marketing, and you have only to look at Mickey's face to understand his part.
To me, the brilliance was in Aronofsky's ability to coax this searing stuff out of Rourke. There was courage on both sides of the camera, believe me. The behind-the-scenes wrestling material in the screenplay, by the Onion's Robert Siegel, has already been covered on screen in Barry Blaustein's BEYOND THE MAT. All that's left is the interrelationships, and, as we all discover at the climax, Randy the Ram's only real, lasting relationships are with his fellow wrestlers and with their fans.
A nice job. I often think, "If I'd been a suit, I'd never have greenlighted this in a thousand years, but I'm glad somebody else did." I believe genuine suits even have such thoughts. Despite my trivial reservations, I give it high marks. |
| Demisemicenturian |
Posted - 03/11/2009 : 02:28:07
quote:
Originally posted by BaftaBabe
You're right, of course, but there are a couple of scenes - at least one - where someone tries to pronounce his real name [Robin Ramzinski] and he says, "Just call me Ray." I don't think I made that up
I think you did!
Good film. Because of the hype, I think I felt slightly let down, but still enjoyed it a lot. I wanted Penn to win the Oscar but was disappointed for Rourke too. |
| damalc |
Posted - 03/10/2009 : 02:24:43
one of the things i liked about "The Wrestler" was that rather than his face looking like it's had waaaay to much work done, the setting made me believe he looked like that from having waaaay too many beatings. |
| BaftaBaby |
Posted - 01/19/2009 : 09:24:00
quote:
Originally posted by MguyX
Oh yeah, and that Mickey Rourke (who plays "Randy" the Ram Robinson, Beebs, not "Ray"  ).
You're right, of course, but there are a couple of scenes - at least one - where someone tries to pronounce his real name [Robin Ramzinski] and he says, "Just call me Ray." I don't think I made that up
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| MguyXXV |
Posted - 01/19/2009 : 07:17:27
I just saw this film tonight. I had been interested to see it for two reasons: Mickey Rourke, and the sport of Catch Wrestling.
Catch Wrestling is little like what presents under the term of professional wrestling, nor is it exactly like greco-roman wrestling. Deriving its name from the phrase "catch-as-catch-can," Catch Wrestling (or "Scientific Wrestling") is a truly beautiful sport to behold. The moves are real, and it involves a degree of body awareness that is staggering once you realize what goes into setting up a move and finishing an opponent. In a sense, it seems like an American form of jiu-jitsu, which is probably it's closest cousin.
Here's a little trivia: Catch Wrestling was extremely popular in the U.S. in the late 19th and early 20th century; barnstorming exhibitions played everywhere. However, the various appendage locks and joint manipulation is so effective and so dangerous that top-drawing wrestlers had very limited careers: broken joints -- not just broken bones -- were common and would sideline wrestlers for months and often, forever. It was this phenomenon that gave birth to modern professional wrestling: by staging the fights, wrestlers did not need to actually break each other apart, and top-drawers could go on to perform more often (and therefore sell more tickets). That ethos led to the inclusion of more spectacle and, voila, modern professional wrestling was born.
Oh yeah, and that Mickey Rourke (who plays "Randy" the Ram Robinson, Beebs, not "Ray" ).
It's a fairly simple and unoriginal storyline: has-been copes with time. In that sense, how is this story different than "Requiem for a Heavyweight"? It isn't. The difference is that in this iteration, its Mickey and Marisa who give stellar performances with a script that gives them just enough room to make just enough magic beneath a simple theme of bad timing.
It's a great film. |
| BaftaBaby |
Posted - 12/09/2008 : 15:32:28
quote:
Originally posted by dem9nic
Read a fantastic interview with Rourke this weekend about this film and his career and was genuinely moved. I think this sounds like a fantastic film; I can't wait. Hopefully he'll pick up an Oscar nod next year.
I just voted for him for Best Actor [toward a shorter-list of 12] in the first round of BAFTA voting. 
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| demonic |
Posted - 12/09/2008 : 13:03:57
Read a fantastic interview with Rourke this weekend about this film and his career and was genuinely moved. I think this sounds like a fantastic film; I can't wait. Hopefully he'll pick up an Oscar nod next year. |
| Airbolt |
Posted - 12/07/2008 : 12:19:03
From what i've seen it looks like the part that late-model Micky Rourke was born to play. I mean, he could always act - he was mesmerising in Body Heat for instance. However, as he went off the beaten path in search of pain then wandered back, life and art are very close cousins in this film.
I know what you mean about the look - it's very indie , like a documentary. I will have to see it. |
| Whippersnapper. |
Posted - 12/01/2008 : 13:17:23
quote:
Originally posted by BaftaBabe
The Wrestler
Whatever you thought of Darren Aronofsky's The Fountain...
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