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 & 87 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 | father daughter relationship | tragic ending | unhappy ending | speech | 

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Taglines:

Love. Pain. Glory.

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Genres:

Drama | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, sexuality/nudity, language and some drug use

Details

Official Sites:

Mars Distribution [France] Official site

Country:

USA France

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 January 2009 (USA)

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, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$26,236,603, 10 May 2009

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Infinity Ward, the video game developer whose known for creating the "Call of Duty" series, was informed and honored from the mention of their title after an employee of the company went to an early screening of the film.

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Goofs

Upon being discharged from the hospital, Randy receives a note from the promoter. In the note, the word "your" is used incorrectly in the sentence "Your a warrior". The correct usage would have been the contraction for "you are" which is "you're".

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Quotes

Randy 'The Ram' Robinson: When you live hard and you play hard and burn the candle at both ends... in this life, you can lose everything you love, everything that loves you. Alot of people told me that I'd never wrestle again, they said "he's washed up", "he's finished" , "he's a loser", "he's all through". You know what? The only ones gonna tell me when I'm through doing my thing, is you people here. You people here... you people here. You're my family.

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Connections

Referenced in Riverdale: Chapter Twenty-Four: The Wrestler (2018)

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Soundtracks

Sweet Child O' Mine
Written by Steven Adler, Slash (as Saul Hudson), Duff McKagan, Axl Rose,
and Izzy Stradlin
Performed by Guns N' Roses
Courtesy of Geffen Records
By Arrangement with Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Brutal, Honest, Touching film

The Wrestler is a drama centered around an aging professional wrestler past his prime. It's so much more than that. You don't have to be a fan of wrestling to enjoy this film. The wrestling part of it can be put aside as a back story. Randy "The Ram" could be in any other profession, doing any other thing and could be in the same situation. That's what's so great about it. He's just a lonely guy, whose life seems to have passed him by. A middle aged man who doesn't have much going for him. Sure, he's a wrestler, but he needs wrestling more than wrestling needs him. He needs it to feel important, to feel like a somebody. He really has nothing to show for himself, no wife, just a daughter he hasn't been there for his whole life. Missed opportunities. He's sad and alone and we really do feel for him.

A closer bond seems to be forming between him and his stripper friend, played by Marisa Tomei, who seems to be in a similar situation as he is. The middle aged stripper who seems to have a real connection with "The Ram" is shown in another misunderstood profession. We all may not be as different as we may think. Health problems compromise his wrestling career as he tries to deal with the real world and rebuild his relationship with his abandoned daughter. The scenes with Evan Rachel Wood (his daughter) are touching. Beautifully done. Rourke's character portrayal of the Ram is one of the best in a long time. He's not just acting, he transforms into the character on screen. It's amazing to watch. All the credit he's getting is truly deserved.

The film is Directed by Darren Aronofsky, who also directed Requiem for a Dream. He does a beautiful job showing the sport with realism. The film respects the wrestlers and their world, and expects the same from the audience. This film is done in a style that's so real, so honest, so amazing, in easily one of the best films of the year. All around great performances and great direction. Definitely worth checking out sometime.