Mickey Rourke is another one of our on-screen legends who have grocery lists of great flicks that they singlehandedly galvanized into classics, but alas, no Oscar to show. The Wrestler was his chance in a lifetime to join the ranks of the Best Actor echelon, but just as in the profession he glorified in this unforgettable flick, the movers and shakers changed the script and...he lost. 

Of course, it could be said by his detractors that it was a befitting irony to have lost to one of his 'friends', macho man Sean Penn, who portrayed a homo named Harvey Milk in that highly-overrated biographical flick. The travesty could be seen as similar to the tributes paid to Brokeback Mountain a couple of years ago, a flick that now overloads the used DVD bins in video stores across the country. However, unlike pro wrestling, the Oscars are purportedly the highest honors in the movie industry given in recognition of those who have given their all to purvey works of redeeming social value that both inspire and enlighten. Using these prestigious award ceremonies as political platforms is a despicable tactic that they have employed time and time again to make their humanist statements. We can only hope that, one day, the Actors' Guild rises in protest to boycott the ceremony until reforms are set in place.

Rourke literally gives body and soul to this performance, going on a regimen of steroids that gave the forty-something star the build of a superstar wrestler performing to the max well past his prime. Randy "The Ram" Robinson (Rourke) has gone from Wrestlemania-class main events to tank jobs on the minor-league circuit, his paychecks deteriorating as fast as his injury-wracked body. We follow him from a bottom-of-the-barrel job at a high school gym to a hardcore match at a veterans' hall replete with staple guns, roach spray cans and barbed wire, at the end of which the Ram suffers a major heart attack. Randy is now faced with retirement, trying to reconcile himself with his estranged lezbo daughter and develop a relationship with a local stripper (Marisa Tomei). There is a lot more drama outside the ring in this one, and Rourke's performance as a middle-aged man trying to atone for the sins of a lifetime is what places this a cut well above the rest of most in the genre, let alone the best films of 2009.

As an interesting sidenote, Vince Mc Mahon tried to leverage the flick into extra buys at Wrestlemania that year, but Rourke's bosses on the Iron Man set prohibited him from engaging in any ring antics that would have risked injury to Robert Downey Jr's co-star. We were glad to see Rourke walk off with a nice check from Vinnie Mac as well as a ton of ca$h from Iron Man, which scored a major bundle at the box-office (unlike The Wrestler). Just goes to show you the quality of taste of our Gaga Generation.

For action buffs as well as romance fans looking for something off the beaten track, The Wrestler is not to be missed.


 

Recommended: Yes

Movie Mood: Date Movie
Viewing Method: Studio Screening/Premiere
Film Completeness: Looked complete to me.
Worst Part of this Film: Nothing