14 DAY TRIAL // Much has been said about the myriad of parallelisms that can be drawn, with the least effort, between actor Mickey Rourke and wrestler Randy “The Ram” Robinson, whom he breathes new life into on the silver screen. Yet, Darren Aronofsky’s 2008 “The Wrestler” cannot, and should not, be pinned down just to this. This is a film imitating life with such a brutal force that those most easily disturbed might find it a bit hard to go through certain scenes, not to mention be able to digest and fully appreciate it once its 115 minutes of runtime are over.
“The Wrestler” is based on a true story, that of a washed-up faux gladiator looking to go back to his old days of glory by stuffing himself with drugs, training severely and ignoring even the wishes of doctors. Much like “Rocky,” it starts off on a positive note – a note that is soon gone so fast that the viewer can’t even believe his eyes, thrown as he is in a gritty world where the harsh reality of everyday life takes its toll on everything. Still, this is also a story about sublime beauty, the kind mortals can only dream of, and that derives from the vivid pursuit of a dream – no matter the cost they have to pay for it.
The lack of glorification in “The Wrestler” has been pointed out countless times, but never stressed enough. Darren Aronofsky, a director with extreme talent but absolutely no background in making films of this type, manages to suck out of this breathtaking “instance of life” everything we would expect to see. There is no joy in being the winner of a match, and certainly not the kind of glory we’re used to seeing in other Hollywood productions. There is, instead, a certain sense of peace that settles in, and that comes with knowing that Randy did what he was supposed to do – because, in the end, “The Wrestler” is a film about one man that only knows to do one thing, and for which he is willing to pay the ultimate price. There is also much attention to every little detail that makes this sport the object of fascination for so many, and then some.
With Darren Aronofsky at the helm, Rourke puts on the performance of his lifetime, as acclaimed critic Roger Ebert says. He is outstanding not only for his acting, but also for his physical performance. Of course, wrestling is just fakery, a well orchestrated one while we’re at it, but its consequences do imply a lot of pain, to say the least.
Rourke, once a professional boxer himself, who also fell from grace and had to keep on going (because that was what he did and he had no other choice), knows these things only too well. “I’m an old, broken-down piece of meat,” Randy says and, no doubt about it, Rourke is painfully aware of the meaning of this single line. Perhaps this is what makes it so believable in the first place.
“The Wrestler” is, at the end of it, a movie not only about life, but also about what is that makes us tick, what rattles our cage. About what we’re willing to do to get that thrill, that rush of adrenaline, and whether we’re able to live with the consequences of our choice. Randy, for one, cannot. He can’t bear the thought that, after a successful run, he has to sign autographs for fans with very long memories, and to work odd day jobs for a buck to pay rent.
He can’t live with the thought that, perhaps, the time has come when he’s no longer physically able to put up with such a life and that, when he was still in his heyday, he forgot about his only daughter (beautifully portrayed by Rachel Evan Woods). Neither can he trust a performer such as himself, the kind-hearted and isolated stripper Cassidy (Marisa Tomei), or face the deadening silence that awaits him in his trailer that serves for a home.
It’s these other two subplots that seem to bring some sunshine to this gloomy story, but they’re not meant to get the viewer’s hopes up in any way. Anyone who’s seen an Aronofsky film knows better than to do that, since this is one director who would not allow it. In the end, nothing ever changes, and man continues to be the same victim of his destiny that he’s been since the dawn of civilization. The story of Randy “The Ram” may be based on facts, but it might as well have been the story of anyone of us, save for the blood, the violence and the sense of loneliness that seems to bear down on the very soul.
“The Wrestler” opened in select theaters in the US in December 2008, and will end its run in Denmark, on May 29, 2009.
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