What a sweet little movie "The Wrestler" is.
Warm. Endearing. Really nice.
This may be the first time adjectives like these have been applied to the work of Darren Aronofsky ("Pi," "Requiem for a Dream," "The Fountain") or Mickey Rourke ("Johnny Handsome," "Sin City"), neither of whom has an on-screen reputation as Mr. Charming. But there's not a mean or cynical (broken) bone in this movie's soft-bellied, soft-hearted, battle-scarred, age-tenderized old body.
Tell me if you've seen this one before: Rourke is Randy "The Ram" Robinson, a good-guy wrestler with long, bleached-blond tresses and fat fingernails that look like worn-down turtle claws. Randy used to be a big draw, back in the eighties heyday of, say, Hulk Hogan. Today, he looks like David Lee Roth on steroids. And by that I mean pretty much exactly like David Lee Roth on steroids. All these years later, Randy's still performing the same old tricks, but now to significantly smaller and older crowds, in school gymnasiums and American Legion halls. He's a bundle of maple-glazed ham -- rock-hard, 'roid-pumped biceps and pulverized hide -- and he's wondering how much longer his endlessly pummeled anatomy can take the abuse of bouncing, crunching, smashing and flopping around the ring.
For subplots, Randy feels guilty about neglecting his estranged daughter Stephanie (Evan Rachel Wood). And he imagines he has more than a paying-customer relationship with a big-hearted, past-her-prime stripper named Cassidy (Marisa Tomei).
It all takes place in a wintry, low-rent New Jersey landscape of trailer parks and aluminum storm doors, set to a hilariously cheesy '80s hair-metal soundtrack (except for the Springsteen title track over the end credits).
Yes, it would be easy to imagine "The Wrestler" playing on the Hallmark Channel. All they'd have to do is letterbox it, bleep some words and pixellate some nipples. You might have liked it better when it was called... "Tender Mercies," or "Atlantic City" or [your title here]. But it's a very nice little movie. Did it deserve to win the top prize at the Venice Film Festival a few days ago? I don't know. What else played at the Venice Film Festival this year?
There's no question about this, though: "The Wrestler" is a likeable showcase for Rourke, who has never been more winning. Even in his star-making role as Boogie, the smooth operator in "Diner," he oozed smarm like gravy on fries. Not Randy, though. The guy is smart and sincere, and his gentle smile isn't that of a dazed dope who's been clobbered in the head too many times. It's the smile of a modest man who works out all his aggressions (choreographed though they may be) in the ring. All he wants is not to be hated, and the same could be said of "The Wrestler."
UPDATE: At the suggestion of some readers, I struck the reference to "choreographed" in the previous paragraph because the word implies much more planning (and rehearsing) than the wrestlers in the movie -- and, apparently, elsewhere -- actually do. In the film, the wrestlers simply exchange a few words in the locker room about what they want to do, and then improvise around them.
Really enjoying these little updates, wish I was there.
Just noticed the two almost identical pictures in your "recent images" frame. Seem the same, but one is distinctly lighter. Do I detect and inverted OJ-on-Newsweek thing here, did you doctor that capture to look brighter, even, dare I say, sweeter?
Phillip: Yes, I couldn't decide which OJ -- er, David Lee Roth -- er, Mickey Rourke -- was best, the TIME or the Newsweek. Wound up getting stuck with both...
Sweet!
Learning that Aronofsky's latest concerned pro wrestling was a total head scratcher. I'm not surprized that critics are digging it. What I'd really like to hear from you, though, is at least a passing comment on the style of the film. I understand his long-term DP was out making Iron Man at the time, but I wonder does the Wrestler still has the old Aronofsky eye-candy magic?
Shane: If I hadn't known it was Aronofsky, I wouldn't have guessed. It looks like it may have been shot in Super 16mm (though it is in widescreen). One handheld shot near the beginning of a wrestling match felt really Aronofsky-esque to me, but the rest not so much. Some of the action in the ring, however, has the familiar punch and dazzle.
Wait a minute...aren't we supposed to wait, like, 34 years between Aronofsky films?
Thanks for the update on the style, Jim Emerson. I always vote for movies with my wallet, and Aronofsky's movies are ones I'll pay to see in a theater. Just wonder how hard it'll be to drag my date along to a wrestling movie.
Can't wait already! Aronofsky is the sort of filmmaking master (or budding master) I crave the new film of (even when that film is as perplexing and not altogether satisfying like THE FOUNTAIN) but PI and REQUIEM FOR A DREAM were GREAT FILMS, and can't want to see what he's got up his sleeve...
Loved Rourke since BARFLY. Will continue to... GOOD LUCK!
Just a note, pro wrestling is not actually choreographed. It is discussed before a match and endings are usually agreed on. The rest is done in the ring by an amazing amount of chatter between the two workers. It could be compared to two guitar solos happening at the same time.
I had the chance to see The Wrestler yesterday in a packed house at Ryerson. For anyone who knows Ryerson, it takes a lot of people to completely pack that house. I guess that's what happens when you win at Venice.
I am not an Aronofsky fan, but I found this film thoroughly enjoyable. Like Jim said, there's not a hint of the "auteur" Aronofsky in the film; this is classical filmmaking all the way. It's all designed to showcase Rourke's performance which is worth the price of admission.
I felt the weak link was Evan Rachel Wood's character - these were the only scenes in the film that felt unconvincing to me. But she has surprisingly few scenes (3?) for such a major subplot.
I think the film is a bit more complicated than simply being about a nice, sweet guy. We do get some sense of his temper and exactly why he has not been the world's greatest parent (and probably not a great husband.)
In addition to Rourke's performance, the film showcases some of the most exciting wrestling/fight scene I've ever watched which is not a lot since I'm no fan of wrestling (all due respect to Barton Fink's producers.) The scenes are visceral and quite thrilling.
It's definitely one of the best movies I've seen in Toronto so far. Considering the dates mentioned in the movie, I assume it is scheduled for a 2009 release (maybe spring/summer). Book this now: Mickey Rourke will be nominated for Best Actor at the 2010 Academy Awards. Yes, Mickey Rourke.
As someone already said, choreographed is a very inaccurate way to describe the nature of pro wrestling matches. Pro wrestlers are a very interesting breed, though. Many of them, especially the older ones, carry a profound sense of pride in their work and often there is a sense of brotherhood in pro wrestling locker rooms. I'm wondering, does this film explore the way pro wrestlers interact with one another? And does it contain scenes depicting the working of matches (i.e. chatting either before or during a match to dictate what happens) as well as blading? Blading is when pro wrestlers use a small blade to lacerate their forheads so that they may bleed, creating the illusion that a certain strike or maneuver resulted in a cut.
The sign that a member of the audience is holding up in the photo is hilarious. Long live Necro Butcher!
Ray: As Louis Jordan would say in an NecroButcher Bond movie: "NecroButcher, NecroButcher..."
I've never seen him go by "NecroButcher," only Necro Butcher, although perhaps there's some reference to that in the movie or it's been changed. In "The Wrestler" he does play a character with the one-word name, "Hellbilly," according to IMDB.
JE: I'm just goin' by the sign!
Yes, that is exactly how they depict the wrestling. They get their match-ups just before the night's event, and the two of them get together to make a quick game plan with a few planned events then they coordinate the rest in the ring with a little improv.
Frank,
I can't wait to see the wrestler. Sorry for the mini-plug, but if you're interested in wrestler interaction, blading and other "secrets" of wrestling, check out www.kayfabemovie.com.
Like most things in life, the actual situation is more complicated than to say that matches are choreographed or not choreographed.
There are two different traditions within wrestling. The one that is dominant now is the more improvisational style where wrestlers call the match on the fly.
By the same token, there are and there have been wrestlers who insist on more tightly choreographed match.
Just to take one famous match as an example, at Wrestlemania 3, the match between "Macho Man" Randy Savage and Ricky Steamboat. While Ricky was comfortable calling an entire match on the fly and preferred it, Randy preferred a more tightly choreographed match. In fact, in the months leading up to Wrestlemania the two men fought a series of matches where they tested individual parts of the larger match that they had planned to see how the crowd would react. By the time they got to Detroit, they had tested all the individual moments and put them together like a jigsaw puzzle to assemble the final match.
And in most situations wrestlers would know well in advance of a show who they were wrestling. (Although no-shows and other last minute switches can change matches the day of a show.
Mike:
I'm a long time wrestling fan, so I'm already fairly well versed in my wrestling slang. ;)
I was simply wondering if the film portrayed the kayfabe part of pro wrestling properly.