Review of The Wrestler (2008) by Andrew B — 30 Nov 2015

Being a professional wrestling fan since I was a kid obviously made me really excited when I first heard about this movie being made. The fact that Aronofsky was directing it made me even more interested in seeing it, not knowing what his take on the entire subject was going to be.

I thoroughly enjoyed the outcome to say the least as you can tell by me giving it 4 stars. Maybe I am a little bias because of the fact that I am a wrestling fan, and as I have gotten older I have become really interested in reading books by older wrestlers about the life and behind the scenes outlook on the business.

So I went into this film knowing a lot about the subject and felt I would be a good judge if it matched up to something authentic or something that was rather silly, and the former was the case with The Wrestler.

Other than a pretty cool role in Sin City, Mickey Rourke's career was all but over. But wow did they hit the nail on the head casting him in this role, its perfect. I cannot see any other actor being able to pull this role off now that its all said and done.

Not only was he great at the acting part of it, but physically he looked the part. From his body to his old battered face. Through reading the books and watching documentaries on the real life of wrestlers this movie really cannot get more authentic.

And the fact that real pro wrestlers endorsed this movie gives it an even higher mark in my book. Because most pro wrestlers are very reluctant to endorse anything from outside the business. Rourke gives the performance of his career here.

And I will continue to say it, in my opinion him not getting the Oscar for Best Actor is the one of the biggest all time snubs in Oscar history. He lost to Sean Penn for Milk, really ? Even Penn mentioned Rourke in his acceptance speech, probably knowing that he didn't deserve it.

It was a good performance, sure, but not even close to Rourke's performance in The Wrestler. But that year the Oscars were all over the place. Slum dog Millionaire won for Best Picture, a movie that was pretty much forgotten after that night.

The Dark Knight was the best movie of that year, but god forbid the academy votes for a superhero movie. But this isn't the place to debate Oscar wins and losses. The Wrestler is a fantastic movie with fantastic performances and a great story.