The Wrestler

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)

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)

An acting exhibition, but like wrestling itself it’s a bit "fake" - the eyes see enough and the emotions evaporate as you leave the scene. Two hard hours in the ring, but no significant resonance in feelings. (20/02/2009)

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)

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)

Reality, dreams, desires, and reality. Darren Aronofsky resigns from the magic of editing or groundbreaking effects and becomes a guide through the world of wrestling matches. And it is a walk without embellishment. He doesn't flinch from anything, doesn't stop for a moment - and yet he partially fails. He relies too much on Rourke's perfect performance. In his portrayal, Randy is a breathtaking character dependent on his past and struggling with ingrained habits. I admired him, but I didn't breathe for him. The camera practically never leaves him, but I still don't feel the necessary dramatic closeness and take his story as a scripted scenario with necessary accompanying tools, with three evident twists and a strong ending. I never expected that I would reproach the director for a cold approach precisely in the emotionally soaked, dramatically perfect, and for me, already immortal Fountain. (30/07/2010)

Even my third encounter with Darren Aronofsky's work did not end well, although this time it's not so much the director's fault as it is the subject matter, whose setting and characters simply repel me. I consider wrestling to be a degrading form of entertainment, although it is primarily a problem of audience demand for new gladiatorial matches. Moreover, I have no particular love for Mickey Rourke, and with the honorable exception of Angel Heart, none of his films have thrilled me. To top it all off, his protagonist did not seem sympathetic to me in the slightest, and he had only himself to blame for his fate. He chose it and paid the price. His casting, however, fits - given his boxing antics and personality, he is cast perfectly type-wise. The film certainly does not delve into any great depth, it is predictable, and the characters, whether the protagonist or the stripper who, of all people, is also a caring mother and yearns to escape from this rotten environment, have a bit of a kitschy feel. Overall impression: 45%. (11/03/2011)

A devastating and really depressing drama. I think most of us somehow unconsciously realizes that the life of a professional wrestler is no rose garden, but Aronofsky takes this to extremes and allows “The Ram" fall from the top right to the very bottom, and then some. And thanks to the excellent Mickey Rourke this comes across more intensely than is healthy. Man, in some places even I felt a bit bad. So imagine how Randy must have felt? (23/02/2009)

The attempts for a very raw statement did not succeed, they are very obvious and very disjointed. The main positives are Rourke’s captivating performance, the handheld camera and the grainy image, while the unconvincing and uninterestingly presented behind-the-scenes of wrestling and relatively sterile and clichéd content are the main flaws. I was also surprised by the fact that Aronofsky does not have such tight direction as expected and sometimes doesn't even know what the main theme should be, whether personal relationships, devotion to a lifestyle, family, etc. Million Dollar Baby captures this with its honesty and a more delicate main character. Rourke’s character is not as likeable and Aronofsky lacks the sensitivity and mainly the grasp of the experienced Eastwood. (02/05/2009)

It's a classic and oft-seen story without a hint of anything extra, but Mickey Rourke plays the jaded monster with a sensitive soul well, and Aronofsky's direction offers some really interesting moments - like the ring entrance-style arrival at the deli counter. I can't really say that it's anything special, I almost certainly won't watch The Wrestler a second time, but it's definitely better than Black Swan, for example, and in fact, in my opinion, it's the second Aronofsky film after The Fountain where I didn't get bored. I'm rounding up two and a half stars for Bruce Springsteen's final song, which was released a year later on his album Working on a Dream and which says in four minutes what the film needed almost two hours to say. (17/10/2015)

Flawless, but mechanical. It's beautiful to watch and Mickey Rourke is superb, but Aronofsky should be making stories where every twist and turn isn't inevitable and taken from other genre films. The Wrestler kicks the viewer a couple of times, but it doesn't land any hard punches like Warrior, Rocky or even the sentimental Cinderella Man, and that's a shame... (19/11/2011)

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)

A brilliant movie, but I didn't expect anything less from Darren Aronofsky. I am quite curious whether this film helped wrestling as an advertisement. Mickey Rourke delivers a performance on the edge of his capabilities and shows that he still has what it takes to act, which he currently doesn't confirm. An amazing story of a man who lives the life he wants because it is his only path that he knows. And he is willing to sacrifice anything for it. He would just like to settle some scores, if he is even capable of doing something like that. (23/12/2013)

Darren Aronofsky's fourth feature is the director's most intimate and human piece of his near-perfect filmography to date. Whereas in Pi Aronofsky relied on a detailed, at times harrowing study of the psyche of a mathematical genius, in Requiem for a Dream on breathtaking invention, and in The Fountain on poetry and visual beauty, in his fourth film all the attention is focused on the character of an aging and tormented man who, in his old age, learns the flip side of fame and shows that he needs love, affection, and understanding just that much more. Proof for all Mickey Rourke haters that he is not yet an old man, and also that even a tough and pugnacious man can shed more than one tear. A very good 4.5 stars. (09/11/2009)