Movie reviews for The Wrestler
The Wrestler is a heartrenching tale of many a wrestler through the world of the professional wrestling circuit, it tells the story of Randy “The Ram” Robinson, a wrestler who was one time at the top of his game, but now battling on the small time circuit to make ends meet, along with his weekday job at a meat market.
Some of the wrestling scenes involved in this circuit are not for the faint hearted, some of it involves being stapled numerous times, (the scene where the staples were being removed was extremely discomfitting), a fork used to on the forehead, being dropped on to a table full of glass to name a few.
I heard Mickey Rourke due to his extremely realistic performance is to be invited to one of the key invents from WWE where he will wrestle, and I must say the performance is mesmerising, you instantly believe from his visage alone he has led a life where the world has pounded non-stop on his body, from the steroid injections to maintain his performance, to trying to make amends with his daughter Stephanie played superbly by Evan Rachel Wood, and trying his luck with a local stripper, who only sees him as a customer at first, but his lovable heart makes her realise he is one soft hearted ram. Marisa Tomei plays the love interest, and I am not alone wondering how she has the body of a teenager even though she is approaching middle age.
Mickey Rourke does a superb performance capturing the mannerisms and attitudes of many a wrestler, if you are a fan of WWF through the early 80’s through the 90’s you will recognise a few of the cameos and their references.
You will find yourself rooting for “The Ram” throughout, and you will literally be pleading with him not to get in the ring that inevitable one more time.
It is a superb movie that does a little justice behind the scenes of many wrestlers from a by gone era, the haunting score and lyrics of Bruce Springsteen’s “The Wrestler” brings it home.
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