Certificate
15
Number of Discs
1
Country/Region of Manufacture
United States of America
Director of Photography
Maryse Alberti
Reviews
USA Today - In THE WRESTLER, Mickey Rourke wallops us with a damaged hero who is full of pathos and poignant contradictions....Rourke gives the performance of his life, Variety - Rourke creates a galvanizing, humorous, deeply moving portrait that instantly takes its place among the great, iconic screen performances, Los Angeles Times - Rourke brings just the right amount of faded charisma to Robinson....The actor is not playing himself but rather a part powerfully informed by his past life, Rolling Stone - Rourke doesn't make a false move in this movie....You watch THE WRESTLER in a state of pure exhilaration. A great actor in a great movie will do that to you, Entertainment Weekly - THE WRESTLER is like ROCKY made by the Scorsese of MEAN STREETS. It's the rare movie fairy tale that's also a bravura work of art, New York Times - [Mr. Aronofsky] makes a convincing show of brute realism. The supermarkets, trailer parks, V.F.W. halls and run-down amphitheaters of New Jersey are convincingly drab, and the grain of the celluloid carries a sour and salty aura of weariness and defeat, Box Office - Director Darren Aronofsky's new film THE WRESTLER is a quiet, intimate portrait of a troubled soul -- someone at odds with himself and with life in general whose every ounce of pain and virtue is measured onscreen, Washington Post - Imagining someone other than the beatifically battered Mickey Rourke in the role of THE WRESTLER would be like picturing someone other than John Malkovich in BEING JOHN MALKOVICH, Total Film - Aronofsky's most authentic film refuses to ridicule the amateur wrestling circuit, while Rourke's portrait of a has-been will surely be the comeback of the year, Empire - An emotional smackdown. Rourke's never been better, and the change of pace and texture suits Aronofsky perfectly. The RAGING BULL of wrestling movies? Oh, go on then
Consumer Advice
Contains strong bloody wrestling violence, strong language, sex and drug use
Additional Information
Darren Aronofsky directs this searing drama about a past-his-prime wrestler who tries to regain his earlier fame. Mickey Rourke (ANGEL HEART, SIN CITY) continues a career revival of his own as the fighter, while Oscar winner Marisa Tomei (IN THE BEDROOM, MY COUSIN VINNY) and Evan Rachel Wood (THIRTEEN, DOWN IN THE VALLEY) co-star. Rourke is Randy 'The Ram' Robinson, a one-time superstar of professional wrestling who's down on his luck, estranged from his teenage daughter (Wood) and clinging onto the remains of his career by appearing in brutally violent bouts that barely pay him enough to make the rent on his trailer park home. It soon becomes clear that his broken body is incapable of following through the determination of his plucky spirit and when he succumbs to a heart attack he finds himself at a crossroads where he must decide whether or not to continue his futile pursuit of celebrity or make amends with those that he has alienated.
After his somewhat ambitious flirtation with the science fiction genre in THE FOUNTAIN, director Aronofsky returns to Earth and back to the emotional human drama of his earlier REQUIEM FOR A DREAM. Having fallen from grace in his own professional life, Rourke delivers a towering performance as Robinson; a man whose career trajectory is so close to the actor's own, the film is given a staggering level of poignancy.
Movie/TV Title
The Wrestler
Executive Producer
Jennifer Roth
Sound source
Dolby Digital
Awards
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama 2009 -, Best Actor 2009 - Mickey Rourke, Best Original Song - Motion Picture 2009 -
Screenwriter
Robert J. Siegel, Darren Aronofsky