The Wrestler Review

 

The Wrestler Review 

Here is my review of The Wrestler, one of Darren Alksony's best films, and I personally love this film. 

The film is about a wrestler named Randy, aka the Ram Jam, who was a big wrestling star from the eighties but is now past his prime. He still wrestles, but only for independent gigs. He lives in a trailer park and works at a grocery store/deli where he gets treated like crap by his boss. 

After this movie she went on to play Aunt May.

He's also in love with a stripper, named Cassidy, whose past is her prime too, but she's supporting her son, and Randy has a daughter named Stephiane who hates him for abandoning her. The film delves into the life of someone past their prime, hitting rock bottom. The film does a great job addressing that.

In the movie, you feel for Randy because he later suffers a heart attack and is told he can never wrestle again, so he tries to find purpose again by reconnecting with his daughter, and his friend Cassidy helps him. When Randy and his daughter meet and talk, it's an emotional scene of him showing regret for not being the father she needed, and at first, it looks like Rand has a new purpose being there for his daughter.

This scene was so emotional and you can feel the pain Randy's voice.

Wishing he had a been a better father to Stephanie.

When he works at the deli, he initially loves the job, and the customers love him. Until he goes to Cassidy, thanks her, and if you ask me, he should have thanked her and head home. But no, he admits his love for her, but she doesn't want that because she's a stripper, she's not supposed to have feelings for him, and she's a mom too. Now Randy's heart is broken because she doesn't want to be with him, but later realizes that she is in love with him. Randy then goes out with his wrestling buddies and gets drunk, does drugs, and sleeps with a woman. However, he forgot he was having dinner with his daughter, and she thoroughly hates him and never wants to see him again. I've got to be honest, when Cassidy rejected him, I thought he would call his daughter or go see her about this, because he had finally reconnected with her.

Like you understand Stephaine's anger, and that scene is a gut punch. Evan Rachel Wood did a great job, even though I'm not a big fan of hers after one of her tweets, but she is excellent in this film.

 Later on, the film reveals that Randy has had it with everything and quits his job, deciding to take the gig that was offered to him as a rematch with an old foe before his heart attack. When Randy goes to the wrestling match, Cassidy tries to stop him and returns her feelings to him, but Randy tells her. "The only place I get hurt is out there." Revealing he feels the wrestling ring is where he is shown love, while the outside world mistreats him. It shows that in real life, there are famous people, but in their personal life, they are sad and depressed with their lives, or their passion has left them, and they feel lost without it. 

His final wrestling move. The Ram Jam!

In the end, he wrestles and he makes his final move with everyone cheering his name as tears come down his face and he jumps. The film's ending is an open ending, leaving the audience to decide if they think he lived or not, but most people agree he likely died because of his weak heart. 

However, some people like to believe that he lived, and he and Cassidy got together, giving him a second chance as a father to her son. It's all left up to us to decide, and that's what Darren does in most of his work; he leaves it open-ended for the viewer to determine how they believe it ended. This movie effectively portrays the tragedy of someone who was famous but lost it all, and that, in the ring, he's beloved, but outside, he gets hurt every day by society. 

Honestly, I feel like Mickey Rourke was more deserving of the oscar instead of Sean Penn. Still Sean Penn was great in Milk. 

The Wrestler was truly one of the best wrestling films, and the cast, including Mickey Rourke, made it a standout. This was Rourke's comeback film, and he delivered, putting his heart and soul into the role. Marisa Tomei was good, and the rest of the cast did a good job, too. I give the Wrestler a 9 out of 10. 

I wonder what that love story between the Wrestler and Ballerina would been like.

My next review will be on Black Swan, and a fun fact: Originally, Darren wanted to make a love story between a wrestler and a ballerina, but in the end, he changed it.