Film Review: The Wrestler

There's always an innate difficulty in writing about films like The Wrestler, when the performance of one outshines the rest of the film to such an extent that you're not entirely sure what to focus your words on; whether you should take the formulaic approach that you've adapted to or spend a good few paragraphs raving about a certain man and his remarkable talents.

In this case the performance belongs to Mickey Rourke who, as Randy "The Ram" Robinson, delivers one of the most wonderfully emotional performances in recent cinema, capturing both the powerful façade and the weak reality of the character with the essence of a true professional. Absolutely dominating every scene, you'll never forget that he is The Wrestler.

Although, once you look past Rourke's performance, you'll find that The Wrestler is a real slow burner. Some of the more potent scenes are superbly paced, but it takes too long to get there, and interlacing these poignant moments with scenes of brawling or in some cases virtually nothing never really fits.

On top of that, The Wrestler doesn't offer any real closure. At first it appears as a typical falling from grace film, as Rourke's Wrester struggles with a heart condition as he tries to claw his way back to the top, while trying to win the affections of his estranged daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) and a stripper (Marisa Tomei). Watching the relationships between these characters gradually evolve over the course of the film is nothing short of fantastic, as they're beautifully emotional, humorous and genuine scenes. Which makes the final half hour of the film, when he systematically destroys everything he's meticulously built up, even more galling, and you may well walk away feeling as if The Wrester has just wasted your time.

The Wrestler will go down as one of those irritatingly ambiguous "cult classic" films. The kind of film that most people will watch with a expression lingering between bemused and tired, while others will hail it as cinematographic genius shortly before attempting a Ram Jam on the family dog. There's undeniable quality here, especially where Rourke is concerned, but it will take an acquired taste to enjoy this inconclusive and deeply unsatisfying film.

3/5

Every time some of the music came on during the film, some middle-aged guy on my row started head banging. I'm not kidding, and it was hilarious. I might invite him to see Slumdog Millionaire and see if he jumps up and starts doing the Bollywood dance at the end.

Tried to make up his own wrestler title and failed miserably - tomdoodle16@live.co.uk