The Wrestler

The Wrestler is an unobtrusive indie work. It is simple, clear and clean, and relies on only one thing – Mickey Rourke. Darren Aronofsky is aware that everything else is just Rourke’s surroundings, so he paves the way for him without much interferences or original screenwriting ideas (we’ve seen it all before), comfortably riding on his character’s shoulders. And the whole crew sleeps in Randy’s caravan because no one would give them a normal budget for this. A nice, modest film that could have been excellent as a featurette. (02/10/2009)

The attempts for a very raw statement did not succeed, they are very obvious and very disjointed. The main positives are Rourke’s captivating performance, the handheld camera and the grainy image, while the unconvincing and uninterestingly presented behind-the-scenes of wrestling and relatively sterile and clichéd content are the main flaws. I was also surprised by the fact that Aronofsky does not have such tight direction as expected and sometimes doesn't even know what the main theme should be, whether personal relationships, devotion to a lifestyle, family, etc. Million Dollar Baby captures this with its honesty and a more delicate main character. Rourke’s character is not as likeable and Aronofsky lacks the sensitivity and mainly the grasp of the experienced Eastwood. (05/02/2009)

Flawless, but mechanical. It's beautiful to watch and Mickey Rourke is superb, but Aronofsky should be making stories where every twist and turn isn't inevitable and taken from other genre films. The Wrestler kicks the viewer a couple of times, but it doesn't land any hard punches like Warrior, Rocky or even the sentimental Cinderella Man, and that's a shame... (11/19/2011)

In the end, I liked The Wrestler more than Requiem for a Dream – it affected me more on an emotional level. Whilst Requiem for a Dream is a linear and aestheticized image of doom, the story of Ram Robinson contains several layers. Aronofsky withdrew into the background and opened up the maximum amount of space possible to Mickey Rourke's captivating acting, and to playing with genre expectations. Fortunately, the fear that The Wrestler would end up with the heroic pathos of the main character overcoming himself was not confirmed - quite the contrary. The devastation of the body, the inability to establish emotional relationships and to exist fully outside the space of a painful pretense called wrestling – all of these motifs are based on pure and unadulterated drama. I have nothing negative to say about this brilliantly and cleverly constructed film. Aronofsky is able to feign like a real wrestler, but there is no doubt that the blood and pain are real. Theater sometimes hurts more than reality. The Wrestler is another of the director's drastic portraits of the bottom of American society. For me, this is the most powerful film of the year so far. (07/13/2009)

A devastating and really depressing drama. I think most of us somehow unconsciously realizes that the life of a professional wrestler is no rose garden, but Aronofsky takes this to extremes and allows “The Ram" fall from the top right to the very bottom, and then some. And thanks to the excellent Mickey Rourke this comes across more intensely than is healthy. Man, in some places even I felt a bit bad. So imagine how Randy must have felt? (02/23/2009)