Director: Darren Aronofsky
Running time: 109 mins (approx)
Certificate (UK): 15
Watched on DVD Wednesday 17th February 2010.
PLEASE NOTE: POSSIBLE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.
This is without doubt one of the best drama’s I’ve seen in a very long time. Made on a tight budget, which sometimes shows, it’s a film that really makes the audience engage with the characters and leaves you all chewed up inside, I loved it!
Randy ‘The Ram’ is a wrestler, it’s what he’s done all his life and now he’s coming to the end of his career. The only problem is, wrestling is all he knows. He has a part-time job at a local store, but relies on the little money he can make from wrestling to survive. He lives alone in a trailer and there’s a stripper, Cassidy, he has an eye on at the local bar. In the past he was quite a star, but now things have quietened down and he doesn’t have the pull he used to. But still, he makes a living, that is until one day he has a heart attack. They put him back together, but he’s told not to wrestle any more. Cassidy persuades him to contact his estranged daughter, Stephanie. That doesn’t go too well, but he persists and they go out for a day where he apologises for not being there when she was growing up and they seem to be slowly building a relationship again. I don’t want to give too much away, so I’ll leave my little synopsis there.
First of all, I must say it is a tremendous performance from Mickey Rourke as Randy, he really put his all into the part and it showed. I thought the writing; by Robert D. Siegel was spot on also, some great dialogue. The wrestling scenes were brutal and I must give credit to the stunt guys for that, excellent work. Both Marisa Tomei as Cassidy and Evan Rachel Wood as Stephanie were excellent as well. Also, a great soundtrack, but then I grew up with 80’s rock, so I might be a bit biased there.
Over all, a really engaging drama that grabs your attention and keeps you watching to the end. I found I really cared about the characters, particularly Randy and Cassidy. Maybe a little more on Stephanie wouldn’t have gone amiss, but that doesn’t detract from the finished article. Easily one of the best films I’ve seen so far this year and one that’s sure to feature in my end of year awards. Very highly recommended!
My score: 8.9/10
LINKS:
IMDb Site: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1125849/
Official Site: http://www.thewrestlermovie.com/
Trailer: http://uk.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK/video/imdb/vi1387528985/
Running time: 109 mins (approx)
Certificate (UK): 15
Watched on DVD Wednesday 17th February 2010.
PLEASE NOTE: POSSIBLE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.
This is without doubt one of the best drama’s I’ve seen in a very long time. Made on a tight budget, which sometimes shows, it’s a film that really makes the audience engage with the characters and leaves you all chewed up inside, I loved it!
Randy ‘The Ram’ is a wrestler, it’s what he’s done all his life and now he’s coming to the end of his career. The only problem is, wrestling is all he knows. He has a part-time job at a local store, but relies on the little money he can make from wrestling to survive. He lives alone in a trailer and there’s a stripper, Cassidy, he has an eye on at the local bar. In the past he was quite a star, but now things have quietened down and he doesn’t have the pull he used to. But still, he makes a living, that is until one day he has a heart attack. They put him back together, but he’s told not to wrestle any more. Cassidy persuades him to contact his estranged daughter, Stephanie. That doesn’t go too well, but he persists and they go out for a day where he apologises for not being there when she was growing up and they seem to be slowly building a relationship again. I don’t want to give too much away, so I’ll leave my little synopsis there.
First of all, I must say it is a tremendous performance from Mickey Rourke as Randy, he really put his all into the part and it showed. I thought the writing; by Robert D. Siegel was spot on also, some great dialogue. The wrestling scenes were brutal and I must give credit to the stunt guys for that, excellent work. Both Marisa Tomei as Cassidy and Evan Rachel Wood as Stephanie were excellent as well. Also, a great soundtrack, but then I grew up with 80’s rock, so I might be a bit biased there.
Over all, a really engaging drama that grabs your attention and keeps you watching to the end. I found I really cared about the characters, particularly Randy and Cassidy. Maybe a little more on Stephanie wouldn’t have gone amiss, but that doesn’t detract from the finished article. Easily one of the best films I’ve seen so far this year and one that’s sure to feature in my end of year awards. Very highly recommended!
My score: 8.9/10
LINKS:
IMDb Site: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1125849/
Official Site: http://www.thewrestlermovie.com/
Trailer: http://uk.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK/video/imdb/vi1387528985/
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