Has anyone seen my stapler?Part of the draw for The Wrestler is how close the storyline tracks
Rourke's real life rollercoaster. After his rise to fame in the '80s,
followed by his boxing stint and subsequent weird-guy tabloid filler,
Mickey had been reduced to bad movies and bit parts. There are a few in
which he truly shined, such as Marv in Sin City, and stunning
performances in The Pledge, Spin, Animal Factory and Get Carter. In The
Wrestler he finally puts all his cards on the table, hanging himself
out like a skinned deer for us to gawk at. It's the proverbial car
wreck and we're unable to avert our eyes.
The plot of The Wrestler is
nothing new. It follows a familiar comeback formula, but it shines by
turning convention on its head. We shudder at the thought of Rourke's
battered character Randy "The Ram" Robinson stepping in the ring again
for a few wrinkled dollar bills and nearly cheer when he contemplates
retirement. But the gritty realism, honest performances and tight
storytelling drive this moving character study. We know Randy's time
has come and gone, but he doesn't. The parallels to Rourke begin
immediately - physically battered, broken down, beat up, empty and
drained, he still clings to some kind of hope for redemption, or at
least another shot.
