Oscar Watch 3.0

Next up on the Oscar list is a movie I saw last weekend and needed some time to digest: "The Wrestler." Its star, Mickey Rourke, is the front-runner to win the Best Actor prize.

First, a confession. Although I am an avowed child of the 80's and adore most all cheesy pop culture of that era, I have never watched wrestling. I don't recall much interest in a fake event which starred sweaty, bulky men in spandex who throw chairs at one another. My one wrestling-inspired memory is of a late-night college drinking game which involved topics where everyone took a turn and the person who could not continue the thread had to drink. When one person named "Famous 80's Wrestlers" as the theme, I did a lot of drinking, as I could only name Hulk Hogan - and that did not go far. So, my personal experience with WWF (as it was called back then) is pretty much nil. (Though my experience with the WWF of today - the World Wildlife Foundation - is well-documented. Everyone should support it!)

But, this is one good film about the underbelly of professional wrestling. Darren Aronofsky has a skewed vision of the world, often choosing to look at the dirtiest, seediest avenues where the most troubled souls reside. His "Requiem for a Dream" is one of the toughest movies to watch, and no doubt it will leave you with the oddest taste in your mouth. If ever there was a blueprint for not doing drugs, that is it. However, his talent for grainy, realistic looks at a side of society most people want to turn from is brave and different.

Much has been made of Mickey Rouke's nominated turn as Randy "The Ram" Robinson in the title role. His parallel personal struggle as a former 80's star on the rise leads to many comparisons between him, the real person, and this fictional character. Both are in many ways broken, beaten, and mostly forgotten. His casting is pitch perfect and draws you in on that other level, too, something for which Darren Aronofsky must be praised. He fought hard to make that happen and it paid off in spades.

The scenes in the ring, with staple guns to naked skin and old men pulling shards of glass from wrinkled bellies, made me want to watch through fingers. But the real pain comes after The Ram suffers some revelatory setbacks and attempts to put his disheveled life in order. It is the heart-wrenching conversations with his estranged daughter which ring most true. His flaws are deeply rooted, as are those of most people, and just because one wants to change doesn't mean one has the ability to actually do it. Unlike the shiny glamour of a lot of films, there is no gloss here, no feel-good happy ending. It is in this realism that I believe the film is strongest and much of it exudes from Mickey Rouke.

Marisa Tomei is nominated as Cassidy, the stripper who tries to be The Ram's friend. Despite the best of intentions, their relationship is doomed by their own dysfunctions. Both these actors believably inhabit this pitiful world and they have a good chemistry onscreen. (They do, however, both look like they are in need of a long, hot shower. My hats off to the makeup and costume designers for that!)

"The Wrestler" delves into both physical and emotional gore in a way most unusual, yet compelling. This aging man is stuck in a decade past, still banging his long, bleached blonde locks to hair metal and wrestling other middle-aged former stars in American Legions and the like. The audience for these bouts? It is filled with similar poor folks likely just as afraid of the way the world changes around them. They all try to cling onto what they know as familiar, even the pain and misery, as so many do in times of upheaval.

"The Wrestler" is not for you if you only like your films sprinkled with that Hollywood pixie dust, if you only like glamorized versions of hookers ala "Pretty Woman." But, if you like strong, in-your-face acting and films that make you think, then check this one out for sure.

**As a side note, there is a documentary (maybe my absolute favorite genre ever) called "Beyond the Mat" about steroids, professional wrestling, and the toll taken on the stars of that time. I myself have not seen it yet. After this movie, I definitely will.