Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Mickey Rourke | ... | ||
Marisa Tomei | ... | ||
Evan Rachel Wood | ... | ||
Mark Margolis | ... | ||
Todd Barry | ... | ||
Wass Stevens | ... | ||
Judah Friedlander | ... | ||
Ernest Miller | ... | ||
Dylan Keith Summers | ... |
Necro Butcher
(as Dylan Summers)
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Tommy Farra | ... | ||
Mike Miller | ... | ||
Marcia Jean Kurtz | ... |
Admissions Desk Woman
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John D'Leo | ... | ||
Ajay Naidu | ... | ||
Gregg Bello | ... |
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. Written by Matlock-6
Very rarely an artistic come back is so pointed, so truthful and/or so honest. Mickey Rourke is extraordinary here and I can assure you, he'll break your heart. "It's not over until you (pointing at the audience) tell me its over" Who was saying that? Mickey Rourke himself or his character? Both, I think both. I felt a chill run down my spine, the kind of chill you feel when confronted by an unvarnished truth. Darren Aronofsky is definitely someone to watch and to follow. His characters face limit situations and he finds torturous paths for them to travel. What makes the whole thing endurable is the unmistakable signs of self awareness. In "The Wrestler" the painful meeting between Ram and his daughter (played by Evan Rachel Wood) have the overwhelming weight of the truth without a hint of sentimentality. As we are approaching Oscar season I imagine already a fight to the finish between Sean Penn for "Milk" and Mickey Rourke for "The Wrestler" They both deserve the highest accolade. What a year!