The Wrestler - 3 1/2 smiles

Writer/director Darren Aronofsky’s meticulous and thoughtful character study, “The Wrestler,” is about Randy “The Ram” Robinson (Mickey Rourke), a rather sad man whose entire identity and self-worth are defined by the sport that ruined his health and then forgot about him. He lives in a trailer park in Northern New Jersey and can’t pay the rent. His daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) despises him and he’s unable to connect with anyone, even an exotic dancer (Marisa Tomei), who has made overtures of friendship. Instead, Randy lives for the adulation of those few fans that remember him. When a heart attack fells Randy after a bout, his doctor’s advice is clear: quit wrestling or risk death. This forces Randy to re-assess his life and he gets a job at the deli counter of a local supermarket. But is this really living?

“The Wrestler” explores compelling issues: What is a satisfying life? What makes us happy? How far are we willing to go to be happy? While providing answers for some of these issues, Aronofsky has also created an actor’s show piece and Mickey Rourke rises to the occasion. His Randy is a three-dimensional character, an athlete beyond his prime struggling to cope with what he has become and the delusions that prod him to keep going. We see his despair and his courage. His attempts to regain a place in his daughter’s life are heartbreaking. He has hurt her in ways he can’t even begin to understand. And even though Randy is hard to like, we can understand him. Marisa Tomei, too, gives a memorable performance as a single mother whose professional life parallels Randy’s: she too is beyond her prime and her services are in ever decreasing demand. However, she solves this dilemma differently. “The Wrestler” is getting a lot of Oscar buzz and if there’s a dark horse, this could be it. 12/10/08