Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler

Mickey Rourke more of less summed up The Wrestler with this quote he gave at the press conference (about himself, not the film per say).

If I knew it would take me 15 years to get back in the saddle and work again because of the way I handled things, I really would have handled things differently, I just didn’t have the tools. I’m doing things differently this time around, understanding what it is to be a professional, be responsible and be consistent. Those are things that weren’t in my vocabulary back then. Change for me didn’t come easy; I didn’t want to change until I lost everything, until I realized that you better change, or, you know, blow your fucking brains out. Either you change and go on with life, or you’re just a piece of shit.

If that doesn’t have you intrigued, I don’t know what will.

But in more simple terms, The Wrestler is the story of Randy the “Ram” an aging wrestler who during the 80’s proved extremely popular (think video games, action figures, posters) but in his present day life isn’t doing so well.   He lives alone in a trailer park and wrestles on the weekend for a meager sums in various local places.   More than that he looks terrible and it isn’t hard to imagine that the state of his appearance can’t be much different from the state of his health.   After a fairly graphic opening chunk (mainly of wrestling) the movie shifts as our hero is forced to think about changing his life - bring on the the lady who was a stripper (Maria Tomei) but might be able to save his soul and a long lost daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) that he decides to find again.

Overall The Wrestler is extremely well done, both by Aronofsky and Rourke.   It’s a sold story. although fairly typical (surprsing given Arnofsky’s past work).   Towards the end it felt like it was starting to defy convention or at least carve out it’s own place among movies that feature transformative protagonists, but one moment in the final scene really let me down (I won’t say more as to not spoil it all).    I’m slightly amazed that the movie is garnering as much high praise at it is - it’s good and I think lots of folks should see it - but I don’t think that it is doing anything that amazing (although it is great to watch Rourke - he completely embodies the character).

And like he said after the film:

(I felt) that it was a weakness to change, for the armor that I put on my whole life. I was too proud to change because my strength at the time was a weakness. I’m all right with it now, and yeah, it took me 15, 16,  years out of the game. But it’s really nice because I get to come back and work with these people here.

And speaking of the press conference here are some pictures from it (expect some video from this pc and others soon!)

And because changing ones life is important, don’t you think you should register to vote? So, takepart and REGISTER! Change all of our lives.

Read on:

Che, Revolution and a Film that Tells Instead of Feels

10 Thoughts About My 5 Hours With Che