This Could Be My Ticket Back To The Top

The Wrestler
2008, dir. Darren Aronofsky
starring Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood

I saw one review for The Wrestler that said, "Witness the resurrection of Mickey Rourke," and I don't think anyone could have put it any better. After years of small roles and b-movies with cookie cutter performances, Rourke has again showed the kind of acting skill he routinely displayed twenty years ago. In the film, Rourke plays the eponymous character named Randy The Ram Robinson, a wrestler once at the top of the game in the 1980s, but who has, with age, fallen to wrestling in community centres and high school gymnasiums for a couple hundred bucks at a time. His body, and spirit, are broken from the toll pro wrestling takes on a person, almost every person, who has ever been in the industry. After a heart attack, Rourke is told he must quit, and he does try, but he finds he has no other place in this world than in the ring, and is drawn back in for a rematch of a classic main event battle he had in the 80s.

Supporting Rourke are Marisa Tomei as a stripper that Randy is friendly with, and Wood and Randy's estranged daughter. Tomei's character Cassidy, like Randy, is also a performer in an industry that does not bode well for the aging, and who also finds that she must move on, but proves to have a bit more strength to do so, probably because she has some family left, whereas Rourke really doesn't. Wood, as Randy's daughter Stephanie, has all but given up on him, basically because he all but gave up on her when she was growing up. Randy tries to reconnect with Stephanie after his heart attack, but finds that his problems still prevent him from fully taking responsibility for his relationship with his daughter.

The Wrestler is only the fourth film from Darren Aronofsky, and although it may not seem to have anything in common with Pi, Requiem For A Dream, and The Fountain, at the heart of it, all are about the failings of the body holding back the strength of the mind. Rourke, like the protagonists of those other films, has desires of greatness, but is held back by his weaknesses and the passages of time, which are inescapable for us all. Rourke is any many ways a doppelganger for Randy, but hopefully this performance will allow him to escape those trappings.

5 stars out of 5

Seen Friday night at the Bytowne with Steph, Paddy, and Gary. Had some popcorn and a diet Pepsi.

Future Film Round-up

A new feature to this blog, every Wednesday or so I’ll put up some notes on developing films to be released in the future, whether in 6 months or a few years from now. I’m only going to put stuff that’s been confirmed by the filmmakers themselves, as I’m not terribly interested in rumours and such. So, news for this week:

- Director McG (Charlie’s Angels, Terminator Salvation) is making a new version of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, and he wants Will Smith to star in it.

- A hearing between Warner Bros. and Twentieth Century Fox to decide the future of The Watchmen has been cancelled, which probably means that a settlement has been reached, and the film was be released as scheduled on March 6th.

- Getting back to the Smith family, Jaden Smith, Will’s son, is playing the lead in a new version of the Karate Kid, and now Jackie Chan has been cast as Mr. Miyagi. Pat Morita was nominated for an Oscar when he played the role, so we’ll see. Personally, I actually think Jackie Chan makes a good choice.

- A new version of John Steinbeck’s novel East of Eden is being developed, to be directed by Tom Hooper, who made this year’s John Adams mini-series for HBO. It promises to be more faithful than the 1955 version starring James Dean, which only covered The fourth and last section of Steinbeck’s novel.

- Apparently, there is a biopic of Steve McQueen in the works. Maybe they’ll explain why his car loses 6 hubcaps during the car chase from Bullitt.

- Johnny Depp is scheduled to start filming The Run Diary this March, based on the book by Hunter S. Thompson. Bruce Robinson is directing.

- Andrew Stanton, director of Finding Nemo and Wall-E will be moving to live action and directing John Carter of Mars, based on the books by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Though it will be live action, expect a considerable amount of CGI, so in the end, it shouldn’t look much different than Wall-E.

- Steven Spielberg should start filming Lincoln this year, starring Liam Neeson as the theatre-hating President of the United States.

- And finally for this week, Mickey Rourke and Sam Rockwell have been cast as villains in Iron Man 2, with Rourke as Crimson Dynamo and Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer.

Golden Globes Results

FILM

Best Picture, Drama: Slumdog Millionaire
Best Picture, Comedy Musical: Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Best Director: Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
Best Actor, Drama: Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler
Best Actress, Drama: Kate Winslet, Revolutionary Road
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Best Supporting Actress: Kate Winslet, The Reader
Best Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy: Slumdog Millionaire
Best Foreign Language Film: Waltz With Bashir
Best Animated Feature: WALL·E
Best Actor, Musical/Comedy: Colin Farrell
Best Actress, Musical/Comedy: Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky
Best Original Score: A.R. Rahman, Slumdog Millonaire
Best Original Song: Bruce Springsteen, The Wrestler

Steph got 10 of 14 correct, whereas I only got 5, so props to her.

The Wrestler

Witness the ressurection of Mickey Rourke