The Wrestler (2008)

A faded professional wrestler must retire, but finds his quest for a new life outside the ring a dispiriting struggle.

Director:

Darren Aronofsky

Writer:

Robert D. Siegel

Stars:

Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 41 wins & 35 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mickey Rourke	...	Randy 'The Ram' Robinson
Marisa Tomei	...	Cassidy
Evan Rachel Wood	...	Stephanie
Mark Margolis	...	Lenny
Todd Barry	...	Wayne
Wass Stevens	...	Nick Volpe
Judah Friedlander	...	Scott Brumberg
Ernest Miller	...	The Ayatollah
Dylan Keith Summers	...	Necro Butcher (as Dylan Summers)
Tommy Farra	...	Tommy Rotten
Mike Miller	...	Lex Lethal
Marcia Jean Kurtz	...	Admissions Desk Woman
John D'Leo	...	Adam
Ajay Naidu	...	Medic
Gregg Bello	...	JAPW Promoter Larry Cohen

Storyline

This is a drama about an aging professional wrestler, decades past his prime, who now barely gets by working small wrestling shows in VFW halls and as a part-time grocery store employee. As he faces health problems that may end his wrestling career for good he attempts to come to terms with his life outside the ring: by working full time at the grocery store, trying to reconcile with the daughter he abandoned in childhood and forming a closer bond with a stripper he has romantic feelings for. He struggles with his new life and an offer of a high-profile rematch with his 1980s arch-nemesis, The Ayatollah, which may be his ticket back to stardom.

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Plot Keywords:

wrestling | wrestler | professional wrestler | supermarket | stripper | 

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Taglines:

Love. Pain. Glory.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, sexuality/nudity, language and some drug use

Details

Official Sites:

Fox Searchlight [us] Mars Distribution [fr]

Country:

USA France

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 January 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

El luchador

Filming Locations:

1230 East Linden Avenue, Linden, New Jersey, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£802,046 (UK) (16 January 2009)

Gross:

$26,236,603 (USA) (8 May 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Wild Bunch, Protozoa Pictures, Saturn Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

DTS SDDS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Mickey Rourke actually "gigged" (cut his own forehead with a razor blade as many wrestlers do) in this film to add realism to the role.

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Goofs

Before one of Randy's matches, Randy is putting tape on his arms. One shot there is tape on one arm then the next shot there is no tape on the same arm, then there is tape on it. This is for the left arm.

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Quotes

Alyssa: Party like a fireman!

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Connections

Referenced in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #20.140 (2012)

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Soundtracks

"Mirror"
Written by David Weise (as Danny Weise), Ari Zablozki, Chris Chin, Santo Liveo, and Danny Lawrence
Performed by Dead Family
Courtesy of 1969 Records

User Reviews

A Haunting Portrait Of Loneliness

Wow, what a sordid but fascinating film. I can why Mickey Rourke won so many awards for his performance, too. The same goes for the film.

The film was shocking to me: For instance, it was a shock seeing Rourke -"Randy The Ram" - with the long, flowing blond hair and rippling muscles. Hey, it's not that former boxer was ever in bad shape, but he never had muscles like this either. The man must have pumped a lot of iron to get ready for this role as an aging wrestler.

Another shock was seeing Maria Tomei, of "My Cousin Vinny" fame, naked

• and in that state in more than one scene. She didn't leave much to

the imagination as "Cassidy." A third shock was seeing some of the early wrestling scenes. Yeah, pro wrestling is rough stuff and it's bloody and it's fake, etc., but the scenes in here are pretty brutal, more than I've ever seen on TV. The one extended match with the "staples" was pretty gruesome.

Evan Rachel Wood is convincing as Randy's daughter "Stephanie." This 21-year-old is no stranger to acting, having been doing it since she was four! The scenes with her and her dad are memorable.

When the shock of the above scenes of sex and violence (and language) fade away, underneath it all is a very tender, sad tale of a lonely man who invested too much in his career and, after coming close to mortality, realizes the important of family and simply being loved by anyone. That's what sticks with you long after the film ends. Loneliness can be a killer.

"Randy" tries to mend fences and post a few himself - in his final quest not to wind up as an island in this world of humanity - with both successful and unsuccessful results. Sometimes you can never change what you are, and sometimes you can. Both of those are demonstrated here in this oddly-edgy-but sentimental film.