The Wrestler

Hier, avec La grande bellezza et malgré son fort impact visuel, il me manquait la substance de l’histoire. Et c’est précisément ce que The Wrestler m’a apporté. Le catch est une chose très éloignée de mes centres d'intérêt et de mes hobbys et je n’ai jamais réussi à passer plus de cinq ou dix minutes à le regarder à la télé. Gamin, la seule chose qui m’intéressait, c’était les comédies d’action avec Hulk Hogan. Néanmoins, Darren Aronofsky a réussi à faire un film intrigant, touchant et passionnant, même pour les détracteurs les plus farouches de la discipline en question. Pour Mickey Rourke, le rôle de Ram lui va comme un gant et Marisa Tomei et Evan Rachel Wood le secondent en beauté. Un moment de cinéma puissant et de qualité. (19/10/2014)

Opus indie discret. Simple, clair, propre, reposant sur une seule chose - Mickey Rourke. Darren Aronofsky est conscient que tout le reste n'est que l'environnement de Rourke, alors il lui pave le chemin sans aucune astuce de réalisation ni idées de scénario (nous avons déjà tout vu) et se laisse confortablement guider par son personnage. Et toute l'équipe dort dans la caravane de Randy car personne ne pouvait leur donner un budget normal pour cela. Un beau film modeste qui aurait pu être une excellente réalisation de moyen métrage. (10/02/2009)

In the end, I liked The Wrestler more than Requiem for a Dream – it affected me more on an emotional level. Whilst Requiem for a Dream is a linear and aestheticized image of doom, the story of Ram Robinson contains several layers. Aronofsky withdrew into the background and opened up the maximum amount of space possible to Mickey Rourke's captivating acting, and to playing with genre expectations. Fortunately, the fear that The Wrestler would end up with the heroic pathos of the main character overcoming himself was not confirmed - quite the contrary. The devastation of the body, the inability to establish emotional relationships and to exist fully outside the space of a painful pretense called wrestling – all of these motifs are based on pure and unadulterated drama. I have nothing negative to say about this brilliantly and cleverly constructed film. Aronofsky is able to feign like a real wrestler, but there is no doubt that the blood and pain are real. Theater sometimes hurts more than reality. The Wrestler is another of the director's drastic portraits of the bottom of American society. For me, this is the most powerful film of the year so far. (13/07/2009)

A very intense experience, as it’s usual with Aronofsky. The walking camera works wonders, making it very easy to relate to the character of the wrestler (does anyone understand this “sport”? Does it really have an audience?). The Wrestler is one of the most tiring films I’ve ever watched, but not in the sense that it’s boring, but that you’re physically exhausted after watching it. It has such an effect that it made me feel I almost experienced it first hand. Ouch! Aronofsky isn’t getting five stars out of me this time, but it was very close (there are several parts where the story loses its pace). PS: Did the style of the last scene remind anyone else of the brilliant ending of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid? (06/01/2009)

Darren probably couldn’t stand anymore of his wife’s constant teasing that she already has her golden baldie on their mantelpiece. And so he shot that type of movie which is to the critical community what a red cloth is to a bull. Seemingly a merely classic nostalgic and sad “sports" drama, heavily dependent on Rourke’s gala-performance, but he gave it something extra. Something depressing and true. And it’s really, and I mean really, not about wrestling at all. Thank god. I’m actually so allergic to that sport. This could just as well be about boxing, chess, acting or writing reviews for FilmBooster. It would work out the same, this is mainly about looking for your own “place in life". (04/01/2009)