The Wrestler (2008)

What I expected:

I’ve never been a fan of wrestling, boxing or other beating-each-other-up sports so I was not drawn to that part of this premise. However, the early buzz was that Mickey Rourke had done something amazing here. I knew him best for his sleazy roles in 9 1/2 weeks and Black Heart so he was not high on the likeability-meter. I had seen pictures of his beef jerky appearance, so I was nervous about how I would react to him. I liked Merissa Tormei in The Paper, but again that was ages ago. Last time I saw her was in War, Inc. where she did not impress me.  I had steeled myself with low expectations but with a flutter of hope.

What I got:

WOW! This is a very quiet movie (which is usually code for boring) but in this case, the quiet desperation of Randy “The Ram”, played by Mickey Rourke – a has-been that doesn’t know how to do anything else – and the characters around him, draws you in with its quiet intensity. It happens to be wrestling, but the movie taps into a more universal truth about the struggle of anybody who was ever great at anything and then sees the World move on without you. Maybe it didn’t forget you, but it just stopped caring. What do you do then? Rourke’s character tries to put a life back together and find love with a stripper (Merissa Tormei) who tries very hard NOT to fall into the heart-of-gold stereotype. You get to see way more of Merissa Tormei’s anatomy here than you are used to. Not unpleasant but not exploitative either, and completely in sync with the grittiness of the rest of the movie. She does a great job of portraying a woman that has trouble sorting out her life and her emotions and who is afraid to commit because she has been burned once too often. My one complaint is that I think Rourke downplayed his character’s emotional life too much. I get that he has lost many a brain cell to the fights, and to his “sex, drugs and rock-n-roll” lifestyle, but you would expect him to still have some emotional range, a la Ozzy on The Osbournes. The storyline makes up for it though through the choices he faces and you feel for the guy throughout. What I really like about The Wrestler, is that it does not rely on schmaltz to keep you engaged. That has always been my issue with the Rocky series and other sports movies like them. Too much predictability. The Wrestler stays clear of all that, and shows you a side of wrestling you may wish you had never seen, but it is oddly compelling.

I was very pleasantly surprised. This is not an easy film to watch, but it is well worth it.

Caution: If you are not a fan of train-wreck life stories, this is not for you.

Niels Hansen is the co-owner of Hansen Creative Services, a graphic design firm near Columbus, Ohio which specializes in employee communications and small business marketing.