The Wrestler (2008)

The Wrestler is a 2008 film directed by Darren Aronofsky, written by Robert D. Siegel, and starring Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood, and Ernest Miller. Production began in January 2008. The film premiered at the 2008 Venice Film Festival in August/September, winning the Golden Lion Award. Fox Searchlight acquired rights to distribute the film in the U.S.; it was released in a limited capacity on December 17, 2008, and was released nationwide on January 23, 2009.

Plot

Robin Ramzinski, ring name Randy “The Ram” Robinson, (Mickey Rourke) is a professional wrestler who was a major star in the 1980s, but is now nearly twenty years past his prime and wrestling on the weekends for various independent wrestling promotions in the Elizabeth, New Jersey area. After a show, a promoter proposes a 20th anniversary rematch with his most notable opponent, the Ayatollah (Ernest Miller), who now owns a used car dealership in Arizona. Their first match together sold out Madison Square Garden, and Randy agrees, wishfully thinking this high-profile match could help him get back to the top.

Randy goes home and is locked out of his trailer for not paying the rent. He takes pain medication and falls asleep in the back of his Dodge Ram. The next day he goes to work, loading boxes at a supermarket where his boss, Wayne (Todd Barry), regularly insults him. At night he visits a strip club where he has taken a liking to a stripper named Pam, stage-named Cassidy (Marisa Tomei) whose appeal to the other customers has waned due to her age. He continues the training rituals for his wrestling appearance, including steroid usage and self-tanning. At his next show, Randy wrestles a brutal hardcore match, in which Randy and his opponent, Necro Butcher (Dylan Summers), use various weapons on each other including thumbtacks, staple guns, barbed wire and glass. Randy suffers numerous gashes, including a deep cut on his chest from the barbed wire. Post-match, Randy is treated by a doctor backstage, but has a heart attack soon after and collapses.

The heart attack necessitates a bypass operation and Randy is told by the doctor that his weak heart cannot support steroids or even wrestling anymore. Randy cancels all his upcoming matches and takes a job working behind the supermarket’s deli counter. Faced with his mortality, he tells Cassidy about his heart attack and tries to woo her. She warms to him at first (going with him when he buys his estranged daughter birthday presents, explaining that she has a son and plans to move to Trenton) but quickly diverts back to her rule of not dating customers, leaving Randy alone in a bar.

At Cassidy’s suggestion, Randy visits his estranged daughter, Stephanie (Evan Rachel Wood), but she chides him for being a bad father. On his second visit to Stephanie’s place, Randy brings a thoughtful gift (suggested to him by Cassidy) and blunt words about his poor, absentee parenting and says he just does not want her to hate him, and the two bond over a visit to an abandoned beachfront boardwalk. They agree to meet for dinner on Saturday.

Randy goes to Cassidy’s stripclub and presents Cassidy with a Thank You card for her help in repairing his relationship with his daughter. Randy tries to convince Cassidy that his affection for her is sincere but Cassidy rejects his overture. Dejected, Randy attends a wrestling match as a spectator and receives some of the love and attention he was seeking from Cassidy from the adoring wrestling fans and fellow wrestlers.

After watching a wrestling match, Randy gets drunk, snorts cocaine, and has sex with a woman, sleeping the entire next day from exhaustion and misses his dinner date with Stephanie. He goes to her house in the middle of the night, where she angrily tells him he has never been and never will be a father to her, and does not want to see him again. Randy goes to work, where a fan recognizes him and he then angrily cuts himself in the deli meat slicer, screams at his rude boss, and quits his job. He calls the promoter to reschedule the previously canceled Ayatollah match and sets out for the venue. Before the match, Cassidy unexpectedly arrives (having quit her job to be with him) and apologizes, urging him not to wrestle for the sake of his health. Randy explains that the real world is the only place he gets hurt, and the only place he belongs is in the ring, with the fans being his true family.

Randy gives an emotional speech to the crowd, and the fight begins. During the match, his heart strains, but he continues despite the Ayatollah’s concern and several pleas for Randy to pin him and end the match. Noticing Cassidy is nowhere to be seen, Randy fights through the pain and slowly climbs to the top turnbuckle. Standing atop the turnbuckle, he prepares to dive from the turnbuckle to deliver his signature finishing move, a diving headbutt called the “Ram Jam”. In the final shot he salutes the cheering crowd and leaps from the ropes; the shot cuts to black.

Production

The Wrestler was scripted by former The Onion writer Robert D. Siegel and entered development at director Darren Aronofsky’s Protozoa Pictures. Actor Nicolas Cage entered negotiations in October 2007 to star in the film’s lead role as Randy “Ram” Robinson, a former wrestler. The following month, Cage left the project after attending a Ring of Honor show in New York City, and Mickey Rourke replaced the actor in the lead role. According to Aronofsky, Cage pulled out of the movie because Aronofsky wanted Rourke as the lead character. Aronofsky stated that Cage was “a complete gentleman, and he understood that my heart was with Mickey and he stepped aside. I have so much respect for Nic Cage as an actor and I think it really could have worked with Nic but, you know, Nic was incredibly supportive of Mickey and he is old friends with Mickey and really wanted to help with this opportunity, so he pulled himself out of the race.” The roughly 40-day shoot began in January 2008, with filming taking place in Garfield, NJ, Elizabeth, NJ, Asbury Park, NJ, Keansburg, NJ,Lake Hiawatha, NJ, Hasbrouck Heights, NJ, Linden, NJ, Rahway, NJ, Roselle Park, NJ, Dover, NJ, a supermarket in Bayonne, NJ where Rourke served and improvised with real customers and in New York. Scenes were also shot at The Arena in Philadelphia. Afa Anoa’i, a former professional wrestler, was hired to train Rourke for his role. Anoa’i brought his two main trainers, Jon Trosky and Tom Farra, to work with Rourke for eight weeks. Both trainers also have parts in the movie.

Reception

The Wrestler has received overwhelmingly strong critical acclaim. Rotten Tomatoes reported that 98% of critics gave the film positive write-ups based upon a sample of 160, with an average score of 8.6/10. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received an average score of 81, based on 27 reviews. Mickey Rourke, in particular, has received considerable critical acclaim for his performance in the film. Alonso Duralde, of MSNBC, said, “Rourke’s work transcends mere stunt-casting; his performance is a howl of pain that seems to come from a very real place.” Todd McCarthy, of Variety, said, “Rourke creates a galvanizing, humorous, deeply moving portrait that instantly takes its place among the great, iconic screen performances.” Ben Mankiewicz, from At the Movies, said, “To put it simply, this is the best film I’ve seen this year.” Although The Wrestler was not technically in Roger Ebert’s “Best Films” list, he includes a note at the bottom of his review: “‘The Wrestler’ is one of the year’s best films. It wasn’t on my ‘best films’ list for complicated and boring reasons.” Critic Armond White gave a negative review of the film stating that “Aronofsky can’t tell courage from vainglory, foolhardiness from sacrifice”, and that film itself is “anti-spiritual”.

Awards and nominations

• Independent Spirit Award – Best Film (Scott Franklin) (Darren Aronofsky) (Won)
• Independent Spirit Award – Best Male Lead (Mickey Rourke) (Won)
• Independent Spirit Award – Best Cinematography (Maryse Alberti) (Won)
• Golden Lion (Won)
• Golden Globe Award: Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama (Mickey Rourke) (Won)
• Golden Globe Award: Best Original Song – Motion Picture (“The Wrestler” written and performed by Bruce Springsteen) (Won)
• Golden Globe Award: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture (Marisa Tomei) (Nominated)
• Academy Award for Best Actor (Mickey Rourke) (Nominated)
• Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress (Marisa Tomei) (Nominated)
• Screen Actor’s Guild Award for Outstanding Male Actor in a Leading Role (Mickey Rourke) (Nominated)
• Writer’s Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay (Robert D. Siegel) (Nominated)
• BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Mickey Rourke) (Won)
• BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Marisa Tomei) (Nominated)

The film won the Golden Lion Award at its premiere at the Venice Film Festival. The Wrestler also won all the three categories it was nominated for at the Independent Spirit Award. It was nominated for three Golden Globe Awards in 2008, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor, which was won by Mickey Rourke. The Wrestler was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for Marisa Tomei, and won the award Best Original Song for “The Wrestler” composed by Bruce Springsteen. The Wrestler was also nominated for two Academy Awards: Best Actor for Rourke and Best Supporting Actress for Tomei.

Cast & Credits

• Directed by: Darren Aronofsky
• Written by: Robert D. Siegel
• Starring: Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood, Ernest Miller, Todd Barry
• Music by: Clint Mansell

Other Information

• Studio: Wild Bunch
• Distributed by: Fox Searchlight Pictures (USA), Optimum Releasing (UK)
• Release dates: United States: December 17, 2008 (limited); January 23, 2009 (wide); Canada: December 26, 2008 (limited); January 23, 2009 (wide); Australia: January 15, 2009; United Kingdom: January 16, 2009
• Running time: 115 min.
• Country: United States
• Language: English
• Budget: $6,000,000
• Gross revenue: $27,128,739

Links

• The Wrestler Official website
• The Wrestler at the Internet Movie Database
• The Wrestler at Allmovie
• Film Review The Oregon Herald
• Film Review Long Island Exchange

Tags: Academy Award, Actress, best actress, Ernest Miller, Evan Rachel Wood, golden globe award, marisa tomei, Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler, Trailer