The Wrestler is A Mickey Rourke Pin
Rourke's Acting Career Resurrected
By: Mark Favermann - Dec 27, 2008
The Wrestler
Directed by Darren Aronofsky
Written by Robert D. Siegel
Starring,Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Ernest Miller, Evan Rachel Wood, A Bruce Springsteen song, "The Wrestler," plays over the film's closing credits. Distributed by Fox Searchlight
Though the French love him as a rumpled, slightly soiled, sordid rebel, he had been considered a Hollywood studio pariah. Mickey Rourke's performance in the powerful film The Wrestler has reestablished him as a notable actor. The film won the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival and received incredible buzz at this year's Toronto Film Festival. Rourke just won a best actor award at the Golden Globes.
An American self-destructive badboy, his acting career has been uneven at best, unfulfilled at worst. Trained as a boxer, Mickey Rourke had a short stint as a professional pugilist in the early 1990's to prove that he could do it to himself. Throughout his career, Rourke appeared primarily in action, drama and thriller movies. He has made some strategically bad career decisions turning down roles in Pulp Fiction, The Untouchables, The Silence of the Lambs, 48 Hrs and Tombstone among others. His personal life has been a mess as well. Married twice, he has been arrested for spousal abuse and for DUI charges. But with The Wrestler, a film written for him, Rourke's career has rebounded.
After minor roles in Stephen Speilberg's 1941 and Body Heat, his early career focused on television roles. However, with notable performances in the cult classics, Diner, The Outsiders, Rumblefish and The Pope of Greenwich Village, Rourke's career seemed to be on an upward trajectory. In the mid-80's, he appeared with Kim Basinger in 9 1/2 Weeks and he became a sex symbol. He was also given critical praise for his work in Barfly, playing an alcoholic writer and as a reluctant cop/hero in Year of the Dragon. His work in Sin City was also notable. His promise as a great actor has always been just below the surface.
Along the way, he also appeared in Angel Heart with Robert De Niro and Desperate Hours with Anthony Hopkins. The resumé was very good, but his personal life and his inner demons just got in the way. Directors have referred to him as dangerous and erratic. His personal and professional judgments have been questionable. In the early 90's, he quit acting to pursue boxing for four years. Mickey's star never shone as bright when he eventually returned. In the film business, youthful rebels can be viewed as heroic while middle age rebels are seen as just jerks. Rourke was something of the former and certainly a lot of the latter.
However, this seems to have significantly changed with The Wrestler. This gritty, take no prisoners, Texas locked caged match film has put Rourke right back in the cinematic mainstream. In this movie, he plays the washed-up former star wrestler, Randy "The Ram" Robinson, a part that he actually trained to be a professional wrestler for. The Ram's still strong but aging body is not quite the Adonis physique of his past, but the old warrior is still a minor league celebrity picking up a bit of cash and a great deal of physical pain at VFW halls, American Legion posts and out of the way down and dirty venues in New Jersey, New York and Delaware. There is a glimmer of hope that The Ram can somehow make it back to the big time. This film is not about the glamorous WWE of Vince McMahon's superstars and divas but the warts and all underside of low level professional and semi-professional wrestling.
The premise of the film is that Randy "The Ram" Robinson (Mickey Rourke) is a professional wrestler who was at his prime a quarter of a century ago. His major event was held in Madison Square Garden. The Ram, known for his patented Ram Jam move, now wrestles on week-ends in independently produced matches for a paltry bit of money and the continued cheers of the fans. The Ram is addicted to the seemingly sordid life. Even the guy who cleans up after elephants in the circus is in show biz. During the week, he works in a grocery store.
Now in his 50's and shown respect by the much younger wrestlers, he eventually is forced to retire after suffering a heart attack after a particularly brutal fight. His doctor says that wrestling again could kill him. He takes the week-end shift at the super market's deli counter, attempts to form a relationship with an aging but somewhat better grounded stripper (Marisa Tomei) and awkwardly tries to reconcile with his long estranged resentful daughter (Evan Rachel Wood). When things continue to go badly, he is eventually drawn to entering a 20th anniversary rematch with his historic nemesis The Ayatollah (Ernest Miller) even though this match may cause his death.
Along the way, The Wrestler shows the inside workings of wrestling entertainment, the friendship of the wrestlers even when they are foes in the ring, steroid use and the choreography of the matches. Both The Ram and the stripper Cassidy (Tomei) use their bodies to make a living even though their sell by dates have long past. The point is that even if their bodies may be less than they were, their human spirit is still very much intact.
In our hard financial times, this tale of a downtrodden one time winner now loser may not be cautionary, but it is clearly resonating. The hopeful sense of self, the soul of a warrior and the grit of the urban environment shape a story that speaks to our time of cynical optimism and wishful anticipation.
The Wrestler is a tough visceral film to watch. There is much blood and gore, both physical and mental. Not everyone will appreciate this film. However, this is one of the best films of the year. Several outstanding actors give their finest work here. Marisa Tomei has never been better in her moving portrayal of a stripper/single mom. Tomei was nominated for a Golden Globe Best Supporting role award as well as nominated for an Oscar for her outstanding layered work. Evan Rachel Wood is at her sensitive best as the neglected daughter.
But best of all, Mickey Rourke brings a sardonic radiating humanity, a vulnerability and a strength dipped in humor and self-acceptance to an eccentric strangely affecting part. As expected Rourke was nominated for an Oscar. Mickey Rourke's "The Ram" is one of the great iconic screen performances of all time.