The Wrestler (2008)

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

Director:

Darren Aronofsky

Writer:

Robert Siegel

Stars:

Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 58 wins & 91 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mickey Rourke	...	Randy 'The Ram' Robinson
Marisa Tomei	...	Cassidy
Evan Rachel Wood	...	Stephanie
Mark Margolis	...	Lenny
Todd Barry	...	Wayne
Wass Stevens	...	Nick Volpe
Judah Friedlander	...	Scott Brumberg
Ernest Miller	...	The Ayatollah
Dylan Keith Summers	...	Necro Butcher (as Dylan Summers)
Tommy Farra	...	Tommy Rotten
Mike Miller	...	Lex Lethal
Marcia Jean Kurtz	...	Admissions Desk Woman
John D'Leo	...	Adam
Ajay Naidu	...	Medic
Gregg Bello	...	JAPW Promoter Larry Cohen

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.

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Plot Keywords:

stripper | professional wrestler | new jersey | father daughter relationship | speech | 

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Taglines:

Love. Pain. Glory.

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Genres:

Drama | Sport

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Certificate:

R16

Did You Know?

Trivia

During the strip club scene in which Ram (Mickey Rourke) is showing Cassidy (Marisa Tomei) some of the scars he has accumulated throughout his career and she tells him, "He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed" - this is a direct and word for word reference to the Old Testament biblical verse of Isaiah 53:5. Chapter 53 of the book of Isaiah is the last of four songs about "The Suffering Servant" and it tells the story of a "Man of Sorrows".

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Goofs

When Robinson is playing the 'Wrestling Jam' video game with a neighbor boy, the boy mistakenly refers to the British SAS special forces in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare as "British SNS".

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Quotes

Randy 'The Ram' Robinson: The only place I get hurt is out there.
[Randy points away from the ring]
Randy 'The Ram' Robinson: The world don't give a shit about me.

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Connections

References Reservoir Dogs (1992)

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Soundtracks

Dodge It
Written by Samsaya and Eve Nelson
Performed by Samsaya
Courtesy of Rumblefish

User Reviews

Honest to the core!

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.

Details

Official Sites:

Mars Distribution [France] Official site

Country:

USA France

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 March 2009 (New Zealand)

Also Known As:

El luchador

Filming Locations:

1230 East Linden Avenue, Linden, New Jersey, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$202,714, 21 December 2008

Gross USA:

$26,238,243

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$44,734,660

Company Credits

Production Co:

Wild Bunch, Protozoa Pictures, Saturn Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

DTS SDDS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39:1