Ryan McNeil
A friend of mine suggested that I fill this piece with as many wrestling verbs as I can. He suggested that I refer to the “choke-holding script”, or the “body-slam of a plot twist”. In the end I decided to refrain, though the notion was tempting.
I took a pass because this movie is about far more than wrestling. It’s about anyone out there who’s only good at one thing, and what they are supposed to do when they can’t do that one thing anymore.
THE WRESTLER is Randy “The Ram” Robinson (Mickey Rourke). Randy used to be a huge star, selling out hockey arenas’ worth of wrestling fans who would rise to their feet as his Quiet Riot entrance music thundered out. Twenty years have past since those glory days, but The Ram still wrestles. However these days Madison Square Garden has given way to community centres and hotel ballrooms. Clearly the glory days are over – but don’t tell The Ram that. He doesn’t think the world is done with him yet, and that he still has a shot at getting back on top.
When The Ram isn’t pile-driving or suplexing opponents in front of adoring fans, his life becomes spectacularly unspectacular…and sad. Randy lives in a trailer, or his van if he’s behind on his rent. He works in receiving in the local supermarket, and the closest thing he has to a friend is Cassidy (Marisa Tomei), a stripper at the bar he spends way too much time at. Soon we see, that he isn’t just a shell of a hero, he’s a shell of a man. The saddest thing about it though, is that deep down he knows it.
After a particularly brutal match, one involving thumbtacks, barbed wire, and shards of glass, Randy suffers a heart attack. He’s put his body through far too much for far too long, and is told he can’t continue. This crossroads in his life shakes and inspires him, and with Cassidy’s urging, he attempts to re-connect with his estranged daughter (Evan Rachel Wood). She agrees to meet with him, and after he pours his heart out to her, he pledges to get his act together, and to be a better person. Sadly though, they have this saying about old dogs…
While its true that THE WRESTLER is a film that succeeds on the shoulders of an individual performance, it is likewise a heartbreaking story that achieves as a complete movie. It’s the story of every disposable hero that has come and gone, be they wrestlers, TV stars, or singers. Our society craves celebrity, and consumes every delicious, non-nutritious bit of them we can. We toss them aside when we’re done and move on to the next flavour, but what is to become of them then?
What happens then is what Mickey Rourke tries so hard to show us with his every move and weary smile. Rourke is a man who has been there-and-back-again, so hearing these words come out of his mouth hits that much harder. This role is his attrition; his way of expressing that he knows what he has done with his life, but that he still has something to offer the world. Rourke gives The Ram an optimism, a sadness, and an honesty that no other actor could have offered, and it is indeed the role of a lifetime.
The movie is constructed in such a way that actually heightens the reality of its sad story. The movie looks gritty and grainy, all primarily coming from a single hand-held camera. It achieves a documentary-like style that left me believing that I was watching what had become of my own childhood wrestling heroes. watching The Ram work a supermarket deli counter made me wonder if Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat is now a FedEx driver…or if Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake is now a mechanic in some small town. People like them, and “The Ram” were once stars, now they’re summed up with a simple “Weren’t you…?”
Very few of us find ourselves living out our lifelong dream, which can be disappointing. What THE WRESTLER wants to show us, is that even after achieving a dream, that disappointment can still find its way into our lives. When it happens after achieving such heights, it ends up drop-kicking us that much harder.
Damn, I was so close.
This review is “out for the count” and “technically disqualified”.
A “Friend”…
;P
Good job on seeing what the movie was really about and concentrating on that instead of the usual stuff about Mickey Rourke doing his own stunts. Pity it didn’t get nommed for screenplay, director, or picture. I thought it was more deserving than Frost/Nixon in all those categories.
Good review, I also really really enjoyed it. I gave it a B+ in my review and I think Rourke gave a great performance thats easily the best he has ever given.
Yeah, I would have gone with the over-the-top adjectives just because they’re fun and the film’s been reviewed to death. Your friend is wise.
Good god!?! Is that…? That’s Randy the Ram’s music!!!!
BANG YOUR HEAD!!!