The Wrestler (2008): Review

The Wrestler (2008): Review

It was recently announced that a new service from one of the UK’s largest mobile phone networks would offer an itunes film download every week. As I happen to be on that particular network, I decided to take advantage – especially as the first film to be made available was Darren Aronofsky’s 2008 drama The Wrestler.

So, having signed up to the service – which is known as Orange Thursdays, in keeping with the branding of its Wednesday night 2-4-1 cinema tickets deal – I settled down in front of my computer (as I’ve not yet upgraded to one of the group’s iPhone 4 deals) for a first time viewing of the film many called Mickey Rourke’s career defining performance. I have to say, I was not disappointed.

Despite the praise Rourke received for The Wrestler in the role of Randy ‘The Ram’ Robinson, an aging wrestler coming to terms with the mistakes in his life, he wasn’t lucky enough to pick up the Academy Award for Best Actor. Instead, his co-nominee and friend Sean Penn took home the statue for his portrayal of gay rights activist Harvey Milk. In the other category the film was nominated, Best Supporting Actress for Randy’s damaged love interest Cassidy, Marisa Tomei would be beaten by Penelope Cruz’s fiery performance in Woody Allen’s Vicky Christina Barcelona.

While the aforementioned winners were worthy, it was a bit of a shame Tomei and, more importantly, Rourke, were overlooked – as the The Wrestler is nothing if not a study in acting. In addition, the fact that the lead will probably never get to play a character so intrinsically linked to his own would have made an Oscar just that little bit more fitting. Of course, Rourke has struggled with his own demons in the past - and we see a lot of this pain in Randy throughout the movie.

But that’s not even where the enjoyment ends with The Wrestler. The main focus of the flick is the terribly strained relationship between the lead and his daughter (played by Evan Rachel Wood). Every scene these two people share is heart-wrenching and is spliced between sequences where we are forced to watch Randy’s aging body receive blows that no man of his age could cope with.

The Wrestler isn’t always an easy watch, but thanks to some incredible direction from Aronofsky and a whole selection of great performances, it’s an absolute must see that’s worthy of every award and positive review it has received.

Do you know that you can download an iTunes film from Orange once a week