Running time: 109 minutes
Starring: Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood, Mark Margolis
Rating 8 out of 10
Darren Aronofsky's latest film is a two-fold comeback - for him and leading man Mickey Rourke. For the director, it'll win back audiences alienated by his last film (out-there sci-fi fantasy project The Fountain) and for the latter it's a titanic performance, likely to bring the troubled actor back from obscurity. Rourke stars as Randy "The Ram" Robinson, an aging ex wrestling star living in a New Jersey trailer park. In his 80's heydays his job used to pay his wages and then some, but now it's been relegated to a weekend hobby while Randy struggles to make a buck doing odd jobs in a crappy mart.
After a particularly gruesome fight (involving a staple-gun - a scene not for the faint-hearted) Randy suffers a heart attack and he is warned by doctors to retire or face the consequences.
Without wrestling, a bereft Randy attempts to forge relationships with a local stripper (Marisa Tomei) and his hostile, estranged daughter (Evan Rachel Wood). When this backfires Randy is drawn to the prospect of a re-match with his old wrestling nemesis, even though the fight may cost him his life.
It's these kinds of contradictions that make the film so engaging: that Randy loves a stripper who can't date customers; that his 'family' is ultimately a bloodthirsty baying mob who would cheer whether he lived or died. And that Randy himself is a clueless kid trapped inside the self-loathing body of a gladiator.
Mickey Rourke appears to have put his heart and soul into the role, one that is seemingly made for him (allegedly Nic Cage was lined up for the role but happily stepped aside when the director favoured Rourke).
His face, bloated and scarred by years of booze, boxing and surgery conveys Randy's inarticulate emotions. It's the small gestures (taking his hearing aid off in a nightclub, excitedly picking out a hideous top as a present for his daughter we know she will hate) that make this peformance affecting.
Rourke clearly knows the character better than anyone - he allegedly re-wrote most of the film's dialogue with the Aronofsky's consent and it shows. Truly a legendary performance and a great film.
Kate Coffey
