Review of The Wrestler (2008) by Hanif M — 17 Nov 2012

I personally didnt find this film to be as rewarding as everyone else did. It was a good film but fell short of its true potential. There is a great movie in here somewhere but it quickly gets lost in a lot of weird directing by Darran Aronofsky.

I thought that Mickey Rouke did a very good job in the role. He seemed like he was in genuine pain and anguish the whole way through and that makes it all the more painful when we see him getting pounded to the ground in Wrestling matches.

He has to be stitches and recieve intense medical treatment because his wounds are so awful. This film had a very effective opening. But the momentum crashes down as soon as we are introduced to the leading lady played by Marisa Tomei.

Cassidy is a shallow and boring character and her so called romance with Randy(Rourke's character) is laughable and childish. We dont learn anything about her chracter besides the fact that she is a slut and we see her with her son that she has to support in one scene of the film only.

I will never forget how awkward the scene was when we see her dance in front of the pole for what seems like forever. If there is one thing that Aronofsky needed to improve on its how he films sex and nudity.

All of it was random and put in the film for no reason. We don't learn anything about the characters in these atrocious and asinine scenes. The film was also very meandering at certain points in the film and seemed to take an endless amount of time with characters doing nothing.

There was one thing about this film that I absolutely loved however. The Character Stephanie Robinson played by Evan Rachel Wood was outstanding and the best part of this film. She was brilliant and her performance was oscar worthy.

She deserved an entire film devoted to her because she was an angel from heaven. I could feel her pain and anguish toward her father and her final moments in the film were truely heartbreaking. Can't say the same for the ending though.

The ending left me feeling rather let down and empty. Randy doesnt seem to try hard enough to fit in with society without being a wrestler. He just gives up at the end of the film out of the blue.