The Wrestler

     The Wrestler directed by Darren Aronofsky and written by Robert D. Siegel is a drama. It stars Mickey Rourke as Randy "The Ram" Robinson. The movie is 20 years after Randy's prime time. He still wrestles, but after a life changing event. Randy has to make a decision about what is most important to him.

     The Wrestler seems like a movie that shouldn't be good, we follow around a washed up wrestler and see him live his lonely life. It works so well though, the story makes you feel for Randy. You feel sad for him but you also respect him. All of his decisions are logical, and that helps so much with connecting with the character. Rourke does an amazing job in this movie. He really carries the movie and has great chemistry with Marisa Tomei, who acts as his guide.

     The cinematography in this movie is outstanding and unique. It is shot exactly like a wrestling match would be. We have a lot of shots where we follow Rourke around from behind with him directly in the center of the screen. It makes us feel like we are walking to the ring with him. The wrestling scenes are also greatly shot, it feels like a real wrestling match.

     This movie does have a little of an ambiguous ending, there are two ways it can end and the movie does lean more towards one but there is no answer. I love the life question the movie makes you ponder. I don't think the relationship with the daughter worked to well. Rourke still did great in those scenes but I wasn't feeling any emotion. Some people may not like the movie because they can't connect with a washed up wrestler, I  don't see that as a problem though. My final thoughts is that this movie is fantastic with just a couple of small flaws.

4.5/5