Spring Break
Movie Review: Rourke wins back fans with 'The Wrestler'
Brad York/Senior Verge Reporter
Issue date: 4/24/09 Section: The Verge
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The match begins with 2009 Oscar nominated Mickey Rourke, in one of the best performances of his life, as the fictional wrestler Randy "The Ram" Robinson.
Robinson is a washed up, beaten down wrestler in his mid-or late-fifties that is simply fueled by notoriety.
It is a feeling that came in his prime as well as the cheers that greet him, when he enters the ring as good-guy persona "The Ram."
The wrestling venues throughout the film are held at small-time gymnasiums that act as auditoriums for the grotesque, scripted gladiator soap opera that has become professional wrestling.
Rourke was ultimately divine as he is forced to confront his past and dig deep for a role that hits close to his heart.
It certainly is his best performance since Marv (the vengeful framed ex-con in "Sin City"), or Billy (the Chihuahua-loving crime boss in "Once Upon a Time in Mexico").
Rourke has currently made headlines for his role as Robinson, which is now being described as very similar to the struggle that Hulk Hogan is now facing as he ages, as reported by Rolling Stone Magazine.
In my opinion, Rourke was robbed of what he clearly deserved at the Academy Awards, but you can be your own judge with the DVD that hit shelves last Tuesday.
Throughout the movie, Robinson's body is forced to the max.
A drug problem and showman's lifestyle are final catching up to him.
This leads Robinson to take a close look at the things that matter, his daughter, who no longer speaks to him, and a stripper that seems to keep him sane in an insane world.
Robinson's daughter, played by Evan Rachel Wood (also in "Thirteen" and "Across the Universe"), has given up any hopes that she could be a part of her father's life.
She has tried to move past what she sees as another one of her father's fronts.
The gorgeous Marisa Tomei (also in FX's "Rescue Me," along with a list of movies such as "Wild Hogs" and "Anger Management"), acts as the struggling stripper Cassidy. Tomei's performance is good, if slightly jagged and unbelievable in some scenes.
Director Darren Aronofsky (who also directed "Requiem for a Dream" and "Pi"), refrains, for the most part, from his usual use flash grabbing cinematography and disturbing scenes.
Instead, Aronofsky brought a relaxed yet dark portrait of life in a poverty-ridden trailer park mentality with characters struggling to make ends meet.
It seems as though Aronofsky felt that the actors and actresses did the job better than he could have imagined.
This movie was filmed for every person struggling in this wrestling match called life.
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