 | | | | | |
| LAPDANCE LARRY |
| SEVENTIES SIMON |
| PHOTOGRAPHY |
| COMIC ART |
| INTERVIEWS |
| Sub-menu 1.2.1.1 |
| FESTIVALS |
| EXHIBITIONS |
The Wrestler
The problem for a film that is so good through its formative chapters is being able to maintain its ‘wow’ factor right through to its conclusion. Few films can do it, Guillermo Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth is a notable success, Darren Aronofsky's own, The Fountain achieved it but his latest film, The Wrestler, comes up just short (but only just) due to a conventional plot culminating in a clichéd finale. The film is saved, however, by a triptych of meritorious performances.
With evident shades of Scorsese's Raging Bull, Mickey Rourke delivers a performance which is every bit the equal Robert De Niro. However, Rourke's Randy ‘The Ram’ Robinson is a much less pathetic and a much more valiant figure than De Niros' Jake La Motta and this makes his story all the more engaging. With his two-bit, back-room wrestling matches, his classic wrestling video games, his self-styled figurines and his Dodge ‘Ram’ van, Randy attempts to continue living the dreams of his youth, prolonging the glory of the 80's well past its use-by date and celebrating a halcyonic golden era before that "Cobain pussy" came along and ruined it all.
While there's no doubt that this is the Mickey Rourke Show, Marisa Tomei and Evan Rachel Wood are worthy of high praise also. In her parallel story of the aging stripper, Tomei does what most Hollywood actresses shy away from: admirably and gracefully embracing her age as an actress rather than hiding it. It's a brave performance and a well-executed one. Wood also impresses as Randy's estranged daughter despite her limited screen time. As the two women in his life, Tomei and Wood capably fulfill the critical duty of reflecting the tenderness and gallantry that belie Randy's otherwise rough-hewn character and give us a reason to like him.
In addition to its primary narrative, The Wrestler offers insight into the behind-the-scenes machinations of pro wrestling - the backstage fight planning between supposed foes, the self-inflicted injuries to heighten the spectacle of the show - thus confirming what we've known all along: that professional wrestling is 90% theatre and 10% fight. Aronofsky successfully trumps this realisation, however, in Randy's aging physicality. Randy's age (and the fragility which necessarily accompanies his physical deterioration) makes his fictitious fights more gripping than the ‘real’ thing. When Randy gets ‘hurt’ in one of his bouts, we're never really sure whether he's really hurt or if it's merely part of the act. As a result, Randy is a character that we can genuinely emotionally invest in as opposed to the detached frivolity of the underlying sport.
For such a cliché-ridden story, The Wrestler is a remarkable achievement, for although the story predictably follows the numbers for this type of story; it remains highly engaging throughout due to a series of exemplary performances. It's just a minor disappointment that the film also culminates in a cliché when an unexpected plot turn would have been much more satisfying.
Stuart Jamieson
official website
|
|
| also featured |
| CURRENT COMPETITIONS! Get the Gringo Competition Thanks to Icon Movies, we have ten in-season double passes to give away to Get the Gringo! Read more >> The Women in Black Administering the sale of a deceased estate for a law firm, widower
Arthur Kipps (Daniel Radcliffe) discovers a town where the children are
dropping like flies seemingly at the ghostly hands of a local vengeful
spirit - the woman of the title. Is it safe yet? After a mixed season last year of too many films that had a social agenda, is it safe now to go back to the cinema for nothing more than just a good time? Read more >> The Avengers After years on the outer, never quite making the big time, Buffyverse creator and Toy Story scribe, Joss Whedon, has finally arrived. Read more >> Mirror Mirror Funny how time and again movies with similar themes or stories seem to hit the cinema around the same time, think Deep Impact/Armageddon or even Naked Lunch/Barton Fink, and it's happening again this year with (of all things) Snow White. Read more >> American Pie: Reunion vs. Battleship In a titanic struggle to capture the hearts, minds and disposable incomes of an ever-younger audience, two films line up to do battle for the crown in the great popcorn war of 2012. Read more >> 21 Jump Street Transforming a popular TV show into a mainstream movie is very seldom a successful endeavour. Read more >> John Carter The votes are in and the result is clear: Andrew Stanton is the dud director of Pixar. Read more >> The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel There is a common complaint among older moviegoers that the majority of releases today are tailored to a specific demographic and their group gets short shift. Read more >> Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close As a clear sufferer of Asperger Syndrome, Oskar (Thomas Horn) is not short of an anxiety or two or a measure of compulsiveness. Read more >> Contraband Contraband is a continuing response to the question of where does a superstar film career go when the matinee idol good looks start to fade? Read more >> |
 |
| Stay up to date with modmove news |
| about modmove |
| What to know how we got started? Read more >> |
| read the modmove blog |
| Check out all the random stuff that didn't make it to the website! Read more >> |
| contact Us |
| If you have any queries or if you would like more information about modmove, we would love to hear from you! Read more >> |
| join our mailing list |
| subscribe to the mailing list and receive the modmove newsletter. |
| search |
| search modmove for previous news and reviews. |
Privacy Notice | Contact Us | Site Map | Copyright © 2009 modmove.com | Entertainment and Popular Culture in Review at modmove.com