Review of The Wrestler (2008) by Timothy S — 06 Jun 2011

Two or three times a year, you get the joy of seeing a film that restores your faith in the medium and makes up for the hundreds of other bad or mediocre pictures you had to sit through to get there. "The Wrestler" is one of those films, and it reminded me of why I fell in love with the movies in the first place. Darren Arrenofsky is one of the most gifted filmmakers working today, but this is unlike anything he's done before. It's a beautiful, moving and emotional film. He has written one of the great movie characters of our generation, Randy "The Ram" Robinson. And in the performance of a lifetime, Mickey Rourke brings him to life. Considering the well publicized ups and downs of his career, the part is almost autobiographical but that doesn't make Rourke's touching performance any less remarkable. After having been a fan of his for years, through thick and thin, I'm so happy witnessing what will hopefully be the resurrection of his career. It's deserved, and co-star Marisa Tomei show's why she's quickly becoming one of the most reliable characters actors woking today. Her stripper with a heart of gold sounds routine but it's is anything but ordinary.

The film is vibrant, full of life and packs a surprisingly strong emotional punch. The final match is a show stopper that left me an emotional wreck. There were tears rolling down my face, and sometime after the whole thing was over I realized that this became more than a film for me. "The Wrestler" will revitalize your love of the movies no matter how many "Ernest" or "Police Academy" films you've seen. Quite simply, it's movie making at its absolute best.