I'll never forget wrestling with my grandpa in the living room when I was no older than four-years-old. He would always let me win -- or I would throw a tantrum, but who didn't at that age? I used to watch wrestling on TV all the time, too. WWF, WCW, anything to appease my inner beast. I loved the brute nature of it, and I bought into it every time; The terrible acting, soap operatic stories, etc. I'll never forget in second grade when I found out it was "fake." I was heart broken. Hulk Hogan didn't really beat Andre the Giant? The Road Warriors didn't really defeat Demolition?
But I grew out of it when I became a teenager. I turned in my heavy weight title for a drum kit. I didn't really think much about it until I met a friend of mine who was a quiet fan of the independent wrestling circuit. You can only imagine how pumped he was about the new Aronofsky film, The Wrestler. It wasn't playing anywhere in our neck of the woods, so we had to drive an hour to Indianapolis and witness the spectacle at the art theater.
To be honest, I wasn't that impressed after the first viewing. I mean, I really liked it, but my expectations were at an all time high: Darren Aronofsky, the creator of Pi, Requiem for a Dream and The Fountain is making a Wrestling picture?! This is going to be so interesting! But there was something missing, or so I thought. Mickey Rourke was winning award after award and I was thinking to myself, he did really good, and I'm super happy he's getting much deserved recognition for his work, but really?!
It wasn't until tonight, watching it with my lovely wife in the comfort of our own home that I witnessed the experience known in the Glidden household as "The Passion of Randy 'The Ram' Robinson!" I haven't felt so much sympathy sense I saw Lars Von Trier's Dancer in the Dark -- which is a brilliantly raw and grim musical starring Bjork (don't let that scare you away, it's incredible).
Rourke's performance is astounding, and Marisa Tomei's is equally stunning -- and beautifully sexy at the age of 44. The art direction, music, and tone are just so perfect for this film. It plays the audience's heartstrings like a master pianist, and the story evolves flawlessly to deplete any person's emotional gauge to zero. This is a draining but most inspiring story. If you haven't seen it, go rent it; if you have and didn't like it, watch it again; and if you loved it, good for you. It's proof you're a human being.
- Austin
