Feb 15th, 2009 at 6:12 pm
The Wrestler
This should come as no surprise to anyone who’s read anything written about movies recently, but The Wrestler is a very good film and you should go see it.
61 Responses to “The Wrestler”
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February 15th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
It’s definitely no surprise, but it is true.
February 15th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
How about that Springsteen song over the credits? Outstanding.
February 15th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
I remember watching Sin City, marveling at prosthetics on the unidentifiable actor I was watching, and then suddenly realizing: that’s not prosthetics, that’s just Mickey Rourke.
Dude’s like a walking special effect.
February 15th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
best movie of the year.
February 15th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
Just more proof of my favorite thing about us:
America is all about second acts.
February 15th, 2009 at 6:45 pm
JT Says:
February 15th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
Just more proof of my favorite thing about us:
America is all about second acts.
Take THAT F. Scott Fitzgerald!
February 15th, 2009 at 7:11 pm
Washed-up fighter meets a hooker with a heart of gold. Fighter then defies medical advice and returns to the ring one last time, just so that he can win back the affection of his estranged kid.
It’s paint-by-the-numbers, and it’s embarrassing.
February 15th, 2009 at 7:30 pm
Comment #7 is moronic. Because the plot is predictable, the movie must be bad? Actually, those things have no relation to each other.
February 15th, 2009 at 7:31 pm
IdlwfSEIU: I guess, having a union job, you didn’t notice how masterfully The Wrestler catches the acrid, desperate, locked-out-of-your-trailer essence of the zeitgeist.
As for me, my wife’s membership in SEIU, the most effective union in the United States today, is largely responsible for keeping us in the middle class.
If the vaunted Academy had any guts, The Wrestler would be up for Best Pic–as vs., say, Benjamin Butten, which is Forrest Gump with a high-tech makeover and a little more savoir faire.
February 15th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
I’m so old I remember when Moonlighting was on TV. We thought of Bruce Willis as the TV Mickey Rourke. They’re both DBs but as both Ebert and MY say The Wrestler is good, I guess that can be taken to the bank.
February 15th, 2009 at 7:36 pm
IdlwfSEIU–
I think this is one that was originally written for Wallace Beery, only then it was a widow and/or an orphan. (h/t Barton Fink)
February 15th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
Of course comment #7 also gets the plot wrong; the movie deconstructs that formula, it doesn’t adhere to it.
I guess it’s too much to ask for someone to actually see a movie before they slag it, rather than rely on the ad campaign for everything they think they know about it.
February 15th, 2009 at 7:42 pm
I agree with #7. And I didn’t even see the movie. So there!
February 15th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Ooooooh… why I oughta…
(shakes fist at laptop)
February 15th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
How’s it compare with Wild Orchid?
February 15th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
I agree with #7. And I didn’t even see the movie. So there!
Let me guess, you’re also very upset about Nancy Pelosi’s $30 million earmark for mice?
February 15th, 2009 at 7:58 pm
Rourke’s acting as well as the filming of professional wrestling behind the scenes is top notch, but the plot is extremely formulaic.
February 15th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
I can’t believe you haven’t commented on the Michael Lewis basketball story in the New York Times.
February 15th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
And there are some extremely cheese worthy moments; the ballroom that he and his daughter discovered followed by a dance, the final last speech – were Rocky moments. The Ram crashing into barbed wire and having staples pulled out of him being preceded by a stripper quoting the Passion in Latin was laughably over the top. I liked the movie, but failing to recognize its Hollywood formulaic plot lines means you are the one who didn’t see it.
February 15th, 2009 at 8:04 pm
Of course the plot is formulaic, hell they’ve been making variations of it since the original Champ, and it was probably already derivative then. It does vary the formula a little.
But be real all movies (and novels for that matter) are ultimately re-workings of basic plot lines.
It works because of Rourke’s performance, the way it captures the lower middle class Jersey exhurbs in general and also Marisa Tomei who makes an underwritten part better than the material.
February 15th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
Endorsing Eric K’s points, it’s true that this is not the most staggeringly original story in cinematic history, but there’s plenty of room in art for revising classic themes. And it’s executed brilliantly here, and the standard archetypes are given enough twists (starting with the fact that the “fighter” is a pro wrestler rather than a “real” fighter) for me.
February 15th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
Of course, the movie works in large part because the character has certain obvious resonances with Mickey Rourke’s actual life…
February 15th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
It’s paint-by-the-numbers, and it’s embarrassing.
If only life was as good.
February 15th, 2009 at 8:47 pm
I suppose this is true if by “very good” you mean “trite, derivative, predictable, and tedious.” I’ll grant that the acting is very good but a terrible movie with good acting is still a terrible movie.
February 15th, 2009 at 8:48 pm
Actually, Kenny, the hard core match wasn’t over the top at all. Barb wire and staple guns and broken glass are old hat.
In fact all the wrestling stuff, in and out of the ring, was spot on. If it seemed cheesy and Rocky-like, that’s because pro wrestling is cheesy and Rocky-like a lot of the time. That’s the beauty of that universe (and I’m sure what drew Aronofsky to the material in the first place); the reality of wrestling is formulaic and cheesy, so deriding those parts of the movie on that basis kind of misses the point.
February 15th, 2009 at 8:49 pm
It was like two movies for me.
Movie #1 was Randy the Ram dealing with being a broken down wrestler, including his exchanges with Marisa Tomei’s character on his non-relationship with his daughter. That movie was great.
Movie #2 was Randy the Ram’s actual relationship with the daughter in the film, which started as very well done but I think that story arc moved too far too fast. I think the director had a heavy hand with the father/daughter stuff.
February 15th, 2009 at 9:08 pm
I wanted to like it so much! It’s just such a waste: you have Rourke who’s is so incredible in Barfly and Angel Heart and you have this great writer Aranofsky and the best they can’t come up with an original take on the subject? Really?
Elle Loco: I’m glad SEIU has been good for you. Sincerely! But I work for the most corrupt local in the country — SEIU 6434, which was under Tyrone Freeman — and let me tell you, it’s a viper pit of corruption and intimidation.
February 15th, 2009 at 9:17 pm
To Anton- the staples weren’t cheesy; a stripper quoting the Passion in Aramaic before the staples was cheesy.
February 15th, 2009 at 9:57 pm
Washed-up fighter meets a hooker with a heart of gold. Fighter then defies medical advice and returns to the ring one last time, just so that he can win back the affection of his estranged kid.
Nick Nolte?
February 15th, 2009 at 9:57 pm
Oh, hell, let’s all just order up The Passion of the Christ on cable and call it a night, then. All these other flicks are so derivative, obviously! It’s embarrassing!
February 15th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
The Wrestler is pretty slow and boring if you ask me, despite Rourke’s good performance. The wrestling stuff just isn’t that interesting, and watching a loser realize how much of a loser he is just isn’t my idea of an entertaining way to spend 2 hours. Not saying it’s a bad film – it’s a good film, surely – but just not something I would recommend anyone rush out to see, unless they’re intent on seeing the Oscar contenders.
It was a welcome relief to see Aranofsky try out realism after the pretentious disaster of The Fountain. But all in all, he’s still one of the most overrated directors working today. Thank goodness he got kicked off of Batman and they gave it to Nolan.
February 15th, 2009 at 10:48 pm
Go see “Push” – I’ve seen it three times. It’s an oddball sci-fi flick with Chris Evans (a better actor than I’d ever thought he’d be from that stupid “Fantastic Four” crap) and Dakota Fanning, who’s going to be seriously hot in four years and acts like Jodie Foster at her age now and Camilla Belle, who’s just plain hot now. Interesting appearances from Ming Na and the guy who played FBI Director Bowman in “Live Free and Die Hard”.
Set in Hong Kong, a group of ex-pats with paranormal powers have to find a case with a syringe that boosts their powers before the psychic agents from the US government do. Sounds cheesy, looks cheesy – isn’t cheesy. Twist ending.
No tits, floating gun fu, check it out, as Joe Bob Briggs would say.
February 15th, 2009 at 10:51 pm
Also just saw “The International” last night. Your standard action thriller with Clive Owen and Naomi Watts. Good acting, moves along at a good pace. Nothing special, though.
Great shootout scene at the Guggenheim Museum – although you wonder how stupid the hitmen must be to be standing around trying to kill the cop and the other hitman when the cops will be arriving in four minutes…
Sort of topical since it’s all about how corrupt banks are…
February 15th, 2009 at 10:57 pm
By the way, check out Joss Whedon’s new TV series, “Dollhouse”, on Fox. First episode was Friday. Ratings sucked and the critics savaged the show, but I thought it was smart, glitzy, well done, decent acting if not Emmy material.
And Eliza Dushku is seriously hot. They deliberately switched from her dancing in a mini (awesome legs!) at the beginning to a buttoned down, glasses-wearing, librarian type for the rest of the show to demonstrate how she plays multiple characters per episode.
First episodes aren’t necessarily predictive of the rest of a series (Terminator’s first episode last year was not great, but from episode two it was), so we’ll see how it develops.
Meanwhile, check out “Leverage” on TNT. Great show, smart, funny, great characters, great plots. I’ve got a soft spot for Parker, the crazy female cat burglar with self-esteem issues, played by Beth Reisgraf.
I also just downloaded all the episodes of “Fringe”. Another good show with interesting characters, weird plots, bizarre conspiracy theories and creepy and occasionally gross special effects. And Anna Torv is another hottie.
February 15th, 2009 at 11:21 pm
Sure it was a little formula, but she was a stripper man, not a hooker. That distinction is pretty important to them, trust me. Not to mention it had one of the best drug deal scenes I’ve ever seen. It should at least definitely win the award for the most impeccable positioning of a Guns n’ Roses tune in a movie ever. The film was beautifully made, beautifully acted and I found it heartbreaking. And elle loco is absolutely right about it capturing the ‘zeitgeist’. Its the First Great Movie of the Next Great Depression.
Ram Robinson as fallen eighties hero – a metaphor for the final failure of Reaganomics.
“Use his leg! Use his leg!”
February 15th, 2009 at 11:57 pm
request: commentary on the michael lewis writeup in nyt magazine. I think it’s interesting that this is the second article by a popular business writer (the first being gladwell in the new yorker on wow), but it approaches the subject from a completely different angle. Morey seems more of a student of adjusted +/- than boxscore and battier fares pretty poorly under berri and kubatko’s metrics.
February 16th, 2009 at 12:33 am
The Michael Lewis piece was amazing.
Everyone go read Moneyball, even if you’re not a baseball fan.
February 16th, 2009 at 1:20 am
I haven’t seen it, but this is from Nigel Andrew’s review of “The Wrestler” in the FT:
February 16th, 2009 at 1:26 am
“By the way, check out Joss Whedon’s new TV series, “Dollhouse”, on Fox. First episode was Friday. Ratings sucked and the critics savaged the show, but I thought it was smart, glitzy, well done, decent acting if not Emmy material.”
I’ll give it one more shot after next week’s “Terminator”, but my first impression was that “Dollhouse” was pretty lame.
“They deliberately switched from her dancing in a mini (awesome legs!) at the beginning to a buttoned down, glasses-wearing, librarian type for the rest of the show to demonstrate how she plays multiple characters per episode.”
Underwhelming. And did they ever explain the point of that opening sequence?
February 16th, 2009 at 4:37 am
Yes, a very good film overall. The scenes with his daughter were a little too obvious. Most poignant scene: when he’s enjoying working the deli counter.
February 16th, 2009 at 9:04 am
It’s paint-by-the-numbers, and it’s embarrassing.
Well…yes. The movie is about people who choose to live as stereotypes, and how clinging to those stereotypes is humiliating and self-destructive.
It’s a little mind-blowing to read critics lumping together “The Wrestler” and “Rocky.” It’s like lumping “Full Metal Jacket” with “The Green Berets.”
February 16th, 2009 at 9:39 am
DaveinHackensack, I think that WAS the point of the opening sequence – to show how she has no personality except what is imprinted on her. That was a pretty deliberate change in appearance from hot miniskirt to buttoned down librarian look.
It also shows that they do more or less harmless engagements as well as the more serious ones like the kidnapping negotiation.
Again, keep in mind that first episodes are not necessarily predictive of the series as a whole. I thought the first episode wasn’t bad, considering. It did what it had to do, introduced the characters, introduced the basic conflicts, and the basic concepts, and hinted at where the show would go in terms of Echo’s beginning to regain her original personality somehow. That’s a lot to cover and also manage to complete an actual episode plot.
February 16th, 2009 at 10:16 am
The Ram crashing into barbed wire and having staples pulled out of him being preceded by a stripper quoting the Passion in Latin was laughably over the top.
I haven’t seen the movie yet, so I have no opinion regarding its quality. But I did hear Aronofsky on NPR, and I’m pretty sure the non-Rourke wrestlers are real people on the circuit.
February 16th, 2009 at 10:56 am
I went to The Wrestler expecting not to like it but, to my surprise, found it poignant. The acting by Rourke and Tomei is excellent. Aronofsky completely captures the low-end Jersey ‘burbs. The story line is far from original, though I thought his suicidal insistence on the 20-year rematch was well played. A la the Sopranos you are left to wonder did he die or not?
In a pretty bad year for movies, this one has stayed with me more than any other. By contrast, the odds-on-favorite to win Best Picture, Slumdog Millionaire, was a snazzy piece of entertainment, but I stopped thinking about it by the time I got to my car after the movie. Meanwhile, I saw The Wrestler two months ago and it still creeps into my consciousness every now and then.
And, oh, BTW, the Springsteen song stinks to high heaven. What the hell is a one-legged dog?
February 16th, 2009 at 11:41 am
I thought The Wrestler was quite good, if not quite as good overall as O’Rourke’s performance. Given that it is intended as a mood piece and character study, the (more or less accurate) claim that its basic plot mechanics are hackneyed and formulaic is not a particularly valid criticism. That’s why I was amused and frustrated by all the dicussion on IMDB (though unsurprised given the teenage level of film criticism there) on the “unresolved” ending and whether or not O’Roueke died as soon as the camera cut. While logical literalness has its place (which accounts for my growing impatience with the concluding episodes of Battlestar Galatica, but that’s another post), its neither required nor intended in The Wrestler.
Oh, and Springteen’s title song “stinks to high heaven”? Well, art is subjective, but although this 30+ year Springsteen fan was largely disappointed by his new album, this song, although not quite the miraculous masterpiece of Philadelphia, is a keeper.
I’d also lick to disagree with one poster’s praise of Dollhouse. To establish my Whedon bona fides: I consider BTVS to be the best TV series of all time (and I’ve been watching since the late Eisenhower era), with Angel and the untimely cancelled Firefly not far behind. The worst thing about Dollhouse is the fact, as many have noted, that it feels nothing like anything Whedon had previously done, especially in its largely banal dialogue. Most of the pilot, which was redone after the initial pilot was scrapped, screamed conventional TV. (It’s worth noting that Whedon has widely and publically commented on the pressure from Fox to move in a more conventiional direction, leading me to assume that the behind the scenes pressure is even worse.) BTW, I have my doubts that Dushku is up to the leading role here. No one is disputing that she is one attractive girl, to put it mildly. But having her dance in a dress that ended at her waist, and then dress her up in a porn-like hot teacher outfit, does not exactly prove her acting range.
February 16th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Thanks for the spoilers of “The Wrestler”, Mert and Marlowe. Not that I’m in a rush to see it, but I might have given it a look when it hit satellite.
Back to “The Dollhouse” for a moment:
After seeing it mentioned in this thread last night, I pulled up Dushku on Wikipedia to see the ethnic origin of her last name (Albanian). From reading her entry, it looks like she approached Fox about doing a show, and then roped Whedon into the project over a long lunch. My guess is that, if this was Whedon’s concept, it’s one that he pulled and un-crumpled from the circular file.
The premise of the show is pretty weak. It’s more like the premise of a soft porn movie than a sci-fi series. The idea of a pretty girl taking on a bunch of different aliases has been done before — in a show called, appropriately enough, “Alias”.
One nice touch though is that the “Doll House” calls its jobs “engagements”, which is the same silly term Ernst & Young uses to describe its jobs.
February 16th, 2009 at 5:49 pm
I have recently become a fan of existentialism in movies. It started with watching Monte Hellman’s Two-Lane Blacktop, which I found interesting but unfulfilling emotionally. But watching it made me buy Hellman’s The Cockfighter on dvd, and that one was definitely more like it. It is just something about watching a character that is driven about something to the exclusion of everything else in his life that has the innate capability of pulling out some great performances.
The Wrestler is also an existential movie, and the story arc is quite similar to The Cockfighter, just a little more downbeat. The only thing that is important in The Ram’s life is performing and the love of his fans and the audience. Only when his health puts his career on the line does he start considering other options, but he unconciously sabotages his chances because he is not really a father or a lover, but The Wrestler. Tomeis character is there as a counterpoint to Rourke, she is also too old for a business that demands great physicality, but she is primarily a mother, she is not The Stripper. That is why there is no real hope of them ending up together.
The Wrestler is better than the four Oscar nominees I have seen this year, but it has its faults, primarily the first scene and the last scene with the daughter, which felt too formulaic and forced. Man On Wire, an existentialist documentary nominated in that category, was even better.
February 16th, 2009 at 9:46 pm
Trite, yes, but not as trite as Slumdog or Benjamin Button. Give it the Best Trite Movie Of The Year Award.
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