The Wrestler

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)

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)

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)

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. (16/10/2015)