The Wrestler

The Wrestler. 2008 Fox Searchlight Pictures.
Starring: Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood, Todd Barry, Ernest Miller, and scores of actual professional wrestlers
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Buy The Wrestler at Amazon and then, visit the official site.

A critically acclaimed film about the critically scorned world of professional wrestling, which I was a follower (casual and fanatical) for many years, right up until THIS happened.

Yes, really.

Anyway...Mickey Rourke was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor as a wrestler with the stage name Randy "The Ram" Robinson, who was a major star in wrestling during the 1980s. Twenty years later, he is well past his prime, and working shows in or around Elizabeth, New Jersey on weekends. During the week, he works in a supermarket, loading boxes for his boss Wayne (Barry), who doesn't exactly think the world of Randy.

Randy has something to look forward to, though, as a wrestling promoter is proposing a 20th anniversary match with his most infamous '80s opponent, The Ayatollah (Miller), who is retired and owns a used car lot in Arizona. The first match between both men sold out Madison Square Garden, and Randy jumps at the chance, hoping this is his ticket back to the big time. He starts training for the match, which includes doses of steroids and tanning. Unfortunately, Randy's comeback is sidelined after he takes part in a hardcore match with the Necro Butcher (Dylan Summers) which includes thumbtacks, staple guns, barbed wire and broken glass. Randy suffers a heart attack afterwards, which necessitates a bypass operation, and his doctor tells him that his heart can't take any more 'roids or wrestling.

Cancelling his future matches, Randy moves to the supermarket's deli counter as his new occupation, and tries wooing stripper Cassidy (Tomei), who initially rejects him. Randy also starts repairing his relationship with his estranged daughter Stephanie (Wood). However, the call of the ring, and the adrenaline rush he gets from the rabid wrestling crowds can't be ignored for very long, despite Randy's poor health.

Recommended movie.