Starz Denver Film Festival: As The Wrestler, Mickey Rourke Becomes A Mat-inee Idol Again

This is the third in a series of stories from the 2008 Starz Denver Film Festival. This film was classified as a special presentation and shown November 14, 2008, at the King Center on the Auraria campus.

The Wrestler is filled with hard bodies, tortured souls, and fragile psyches. And that’s just the two lead characters. It’s a rough, tough, rock ’em, shock ’em film that looks at professional (if you can call it that) wrestling through the eyes of a self-described “old, broken-down piece of meat” who seeks a return to gory glory after a 20-year absence. He has a lot to grapple with along the way, trying to win back his fans, his loved ones, and that past-her-prime stripper with a heart of fool’s gold, all played out to a headbanging '80s heavy metal soundtrack.

Leading Roles

Mickey Rourke (Randy "The Ram" Robinson); Marisa Tomei (Cassidy/Pam); Evan Rachel Wood (Stephanie Robinson).

Also Appearing

Mark Margolis (Lenny); Ernest Miller (The Ayatollah); Judah Friedlander (Scott Brumberg).

Director

Darren Aronofsky (Pi, Requiem For a Dream, The Fountain). With Aronofsky calling the shots, always expect the unexpected.

A risk taker himself (Requiem For a Dream is a harrowing and unforgettable tale of addiction), he delivers something completely different here, an authentic, documentary-style story with True Grit that has nothing to do with Rooster Cogburn.

Warming Up

This isn’t the WrestleMania flash-trash sport embodied by the likes of Hulk Hogan, Vince McMahon, and Stone Cold Steve Austin. This is a low budget world filled with small gyms, smaller crowds, and even skimpier paydays, where blood and guts are in demand.

The Ram (Rourke), right, who sometimes has to sleep in his Ram Van because he can’t afford to pay the rent on his New Jersey trailer, decides to come out of retirement. He’s talked into an epic return encounter (in Wilmington, Delaware?) with his mortal enemy, The Ayatollah. (“Two words: Re Match,” the promoter says.) To get there first, he has a series of scrapes with opponents who use weapons such as staple guns and forks. His training regimen includes popping pills and injecting steroids.

During his down time, he seeks comfort in the arms of Cassidy (Tomei), that exotic dancer at Cheeques, where the sign outside promotes “ass with class.” Of course, he has to pay for Cassidy's company and the lap dances while she quotes lines from The Passion of the Christ and calls him “my sacrificial Ram.” He tries to impress her by showing off his scars, detailing where, when and how he was injured. That doesn’t exactly sweep the stripper off her street. “I don’t date the customers,” she says.

Article Author: Michael Bialas

A newspaper editor and former college football player, Michael Bialas makes sports his business but exploring and reviewing music, movies, TV and other forms of pop culture are among the games he enjoys playing now.
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