Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Honestly, I am not a big fan of wrestling or even boxing movies, but after hearing so much about this movie I had to go and see what it was all about.
Now, after watching, I can say that I am glad that I made the effort. It is still not my favourite film but it is a good movie.
Mickey Rourke has made an excellent comeback with this movie from the Hollywood heart throb of the 1980s who had a string of flops in the 90s that killed his career.
The Wrestler, I believe has been an answer to his prayers.
He won a Golden Globe best-actor award for his performance and a best-actor Academy Award nomination.
It is a good movie with a good story. Rourke and Marisa Tomei, who won a best-supporting-actress Oscar for her role as Cassidy, turned in excellent performances.
The Wrestler starts with pictures of the magazine articles that once made Randy (The Ram), Rourke, one of the brightest lights of the wrestling world.
Twenty years later, The Ram, old and exhausted, is now down to playing poorly attending matches in American Legion halls around New Jersey where he can barely pay for his travel.
When you see Randy, you can't help admitting how good his body looks for his age, I mean he is huge for a 56-year-old man. I wonder how much he worked for it, but it is worth the effort.
The Wrestler is about one man, well past his prime, chasing the glory of his youth.
He is desperate and alone and he is on the verge of becoming just another of the washed-up wrestlers whose past glories are recalled by a couple of people.
At the same time, Randy tries to reconnect with his estranged daughter, Stephanie (Evan Rachel Wood) who is angry at him for not being part of her life. But his kindness and persistence helps in melting the ice.
During the movie we also see that Randy is trying to build up the customer-client relationship with an ageing stripper (Tomei). He imagines that he and Cassidy have something going.
Randy is quite fearless and brutal in the ring but at the same time he is nice to people. He is nice to fans who wait for autographs and he is nice to kids who wake him up in his van
If you are a fan of Mickey Rourke go and watch this movie, you will not be disappointed.
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