[The following review originally appeared as part of my Toronto International Film Festival coverage and reappears now with the film starting into it's regular theatrical release.]
The plain, indisputable fact of the matter is that Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler goes only as far as Mickey Rourke is able to take it. No offence to either Marisa Tomei or Evan Rachel Wood, both of whom turn in solid work, but either of them could be replaced by any one of a number of other actresses without doing any sort of damage to the film whatsoever. Not so Rourke, who is present in vey nearly every frame of the picture and whose presence looms large over even those scenes that play out without him. Even Aronofsky seems to be aware of Rourke's huge importance to his latest creation, tossing his entire book of visual tricks out the window for this one, instead adopting the simple policy of simply following his star wherever he may care to go. The entire weight of The Wrestler rests enitrely on the shoulders of this one man, a man whose career has been in shambles for decades now, a man brilliantly and perfectly suited for the part. Thank god someone had the good sense to bring Rourke in to replace the originally announced Nicholas Cage - it's the single best decision anyone's made in the movies all year.
Rourke plays Randy "The Ram", a professional wrestler now twenty years past his prime but unable to hang up the tights. His body is a mess of creaking joints, his daughter hates him, he sleeps in his van, the sole human contacts he has are with the stripper he loves from a distance and from th dwindling crowds that attend the church hall and rec center bouts that are all he can land these days. If he were to give those up he'd simply have nothing left and so he soldiers gamely on, sacrificing his body week after week for the entertainment of the masses.
The Wrestler is as pure a character study as you're ever likely to see, a film that simply presents and tries to understand this very flawed and damaged man, and what drives him to continuing heaping such abuse upon himself so many years after dropping out of the public eye. It is a study of celebrity culture, of the need to be loved, of the consequences that come when you allow a public persona to simply swallow your life whole.
As many have already said, Rourke is simply a monster in this film, turning in a heartbreaking and deeply layered performance, one that feels completely and utterly authentic. What less people have commented on is how The Wrestler represents an important continuation in the development of Aronofsky as a director. With Pi Aronofsky was the guy who impressed by being smarter than everyone else. With Requiem for a Dream he established that he was a technical genius, but most people missed the fact that he also drew career best performances out of Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly and Marlon Wayans as well. With The Fountain he pushed further into the emotional angle of his characters, fusing high concept with universal human emotions. The Wrestler? The Wrestler shows that Aronofsky doesn't need the visual tricks to impress, nor the high concepts. With The Wrestler Aronofsky proves that he is a student of the human spirit, that he needs nothing but a compelling character and willing actor to create powerful work. The man is simply one of the very best American cinema has today. Period.
Thanks for confirming all the accolades floating around this Mickey Rourke comeback film. I for one can't wait to see this film which has been picked up by Fox Searchlight pictures subsequent to its TIFF showing.