MOVIEmeter
Top 5000
Up 117 this week

The Wrestler (2008)

 -  Drama | Romance | Sport  -  30 January 2009 (USA)
8.0
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 8.0/10 from 190,772 users   Metascore: 81/100
Reviews: 517 user | 371 critic | 36 from Metacritic.com

A faded professional wrestler must retire, but finds his quest for a new life outside the ring a dispiriting struggle.

Director:

Watch Trailer
0Check in
0Share...

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 440 titles created 28 May 2011
 
a list of 960 titles created 10 Mar 2012
 
a list of 2339 titles created 4 months ago
 
a list of 698 titles created 03 May 2011
 
a list of 617 titles created 5 months ago
 

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: The Wrestler (2008)

The Wrestler (2008) on IMDb 8/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of The Wrestler.
Top 250 #245 | Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 41 wins & 35 nominations. See more awards »
Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.1/10 X  

A determined woman works with a hardened boxing trainer to become a professional.

Director: Clint Eastwood
Stars: Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman
The Fighter I (2010)
Biography | Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.9/10 X  

A look at the early years of boxer "Irish" Micky Ward and his brother who helped train him before going pro in the mid 1980s.

Director: David O. Russell
Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams
Biography | Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.6/10 X  

The true story of a newly appointed African-American coach and his high school team on their first season as a racially integrated unit.

Director: Boaz Yakin
Stars: Denzel Washington, Will Patton, Wood Harris
Rocky Balboa (2006)
Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.2/10 X  

Rocky Balboa comes out of retirement to step into the ring for the last time and face the heavyweight champ Mason 'The Line' Dixon.

Director: Sylvester Stallone
Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Burt Young, Antonio Tarver
Rocky II (1979)
Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.9/10 X  

Rocky struggles in family life after his bout with Apollo Creed, while the embarrassed champ insistently goads him to accept a challenge for a rematch.

Director: Sylvester Stallone
Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young
Evil (2003)
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.8/10 X  

Erik is expelled from school for fighting. He ends up at a private boarding school where the senior students control the young ones. Erik finds a friend in Pierre, his room mate. The story ... See full summary »

Director: Mikael Håfström
Stars: Andreas Wilson, Henrik Lundström, Gustaf Skarsgård
Coach Carter (2005)
Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7/10 X  

Controversy surrounds high school basketball coach Ken Carter after he benches his entire team for breaking their academic contract with him.

Director: Thomas Carter
Stars: Samuel L. Jackson, Rob Brown, Robert Ri'chard
He Got Game (1998)
Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.8/10 X  

A basketball player's father must try to convince him to go to a college so he can get a shorter sentence.

Director: Spike Lee
Stars: Denzel Washington, Ray Allen, Milla Jovovich
Whip It (2009)
Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.9/10 X  

In Bodeen, Texas, an indie-rock loving misfit finds a way of dealing with her small-town misery after she discovers a roller derby league in nearby Austin.

Director: Drew Barrymore
Stars: Sarah Habel, Ellen Page, Kristen Wiig
Hoosiers (1986)
Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

A coach with a checkered past and a local drunk train a small town high school basketball team to become a top contender for the championship.

Director: David Anspaugh
Stars: Gene Hackman, Barbara Hershey, Dennis Hopper
Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.7/10 X  

A behind the scenes look at the life and death struggles of modern day gladiators and those who lead them.

Director: Oliver Stone
Stars: Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz, Dennis Quaid
Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7/10 X  

When a plane crash claims the lives of members of the Marshall University football team and some of its fans, the team's new coach and his surviving players try to keep the football program alive.

Director: McG
Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Matthew Fox, Anthony Mackie
Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Ernest Miller ...
Dylan Keith Summers ...
Necro Butcher (as Dylan Summers)
Tommy Farra ...
Mike Miller ...
...
Admissions Desk Woman
...
...
...
Edit

Storyline

This is a drama about an aging professional wrestler, decades past his prime, who now barely gets by working small wrestling shows in VFW halls and as a part-time grocery store employee. As he faces health problems that may end his wrestling career for good he attempts to come to terms with his life outside the ring: by working full time at the grocery store, trying to reconcile with the daughter he abandoned in childhood and forming a closer bond with a stripper he has romantic feelings for. He struggles with his new life and an offer of a high-profile rematch with his 1980s arch-nemesis, The Ayatollah, which may be his ticket back to stardom. Written by Matlock-6

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

Love. Pain. Glory.

Genres:

Drama | Romance | Sport

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, sexuality/nudity, language and some drug use | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
Edit

Details

Country:

|

Language:

Release Date:

30 January 2009 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

El luchador  »

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£802,046 (UK) (16 January 2009)

Gross:

$26,236,603 (USA) (8 May 2009)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

| |

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

Darren Aronofsky and Marisa Tomei attended the same high school, Edward R. Murrow High School. See more »

Goofs

When Randy is in the pharmacy he is paged with the message "Robin Ramsinski, your prescription is ready in the pharmacy". Stating that Randy had a prescription (or any other specific material items) waiting for him is a violation of HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). The pharmacy is allowed to say his name and call for him to come to their front desk, but that's it. See more »

Quotes

[First Line]
WXW Announcer: and a true American, the people's hero... Randy "The Ram" Robinson!
See more »

Connections

Referenced in The 85th Oscars (2013)
Mentioned in the "We Saw Your Boobs" song. See more »

Soundtracks

"Jerk It"
Written by Omalola Isis Salami and Graham Bertie
Performed by Thunderheist
Courtesy of Thunderheist
By Arrangement with Third Side Music, Inc.
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

 
Honest to the core!
12 December 2008 | by (Los Angeles, CA) – See all my reviews

I caught an advanced screening of The Wrestler starring Mickey Rourke last night in Hollywood, CA. Following the screening was a Q&A session with Mickey Rourke, Darren Aronofsky, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood, and film composer Clint Mansell.

Mickey Rourke delivers one of the most honest and heart breaking performances I've seen from an actor. Very rarely do you see an actor come back with such a role. He is truly extraordinary in The Wrestler. There are times in this film when I wonder just how much of this is Mickey in character as "The Ram" or Mickey reacting as Mickey to a situation similar to what he went through in his "lost years". The parallels are astounding. There is a scene when Randy "The Ram" is in the ring and he points to the audience "It is not over until you tell me it's over". Is it Mickey or Randy talking there? As a newly revived Mickey Rourke fan, I can tell you this audience member says it's just beginning Mickey!

Marissa Tomei delivers a stellar performance as an aging exotic dancer the parallel story to Mickey's character "The Ram". Evan Rachel Wood really brings it as "The Rams" angry, abandoned and emotionally exhausted daughter. The chemistry between Mickey and Evan is breath taking!

Darren Aronofsky delivers this story to us with honesty, realism and artistic skill. I think this young director will be around making fantastic films for some time to come. At least I hope he is!

You can't go wrong with this film. It is rock solid to the core!

Facts from the Q&A

Only the 3rd American Film to with the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.

The film was made for $7 Million.

The filmscore is more atmospheric as the composer did not want to interfere with the documentary feel of the film.

Mickey Rourke trained for 6 months to get to the wrestling weight of 235 for the film. Weight training, wrestling training and eating 5,000 calories.

The scenes of Mickey Rourke and Evan Rachel Wood were as real as they could get. The actors put on music before the scene and just talked about their real life and Mickey's parallels to the film. When the director felt they were there he would yell action and they would work through the scene.

The scenes back stage with the wrestlers were all real as well. The crew would go to wrestling matches and film the wrestlers before/after matches. Mickey would walk in and introduce himself (in character) and the scene was improvised.

The film was about 20-30% improvisation from the actors.


233 of 308 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
Handheld camera - was is necessary ???? minidodo
Wonder what happened to Ram's money jk80
'The Wrestler' No 74 on my all time favourite list AmadeusRemainsCitizen
unfinished end valecnik
So, was she.... bowmanblue
If he died at the end, did his daughter come to the funeral? father247
Discuss The Wrestler (2008) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page

Create a character page for:
?