The Wrestler

[gordi]

Totally phenomenal. Everything I hoped it would be. The actress who plays his daughter is just terrible, but I liked every single other thing about The Wrestler.

I used to work on the indy circuit in Vancouver in the mid to late 80s, and I always felt that a movie about what it's really like at that level could be a million times more interesting than the "Can the good guy win the match against the bad guy?" type of movie. I never thought that anyone would make a movie like that, though.

The Wrestler perfectly captures the camaraderie and atmosphere backstage at an indy show, it's worth seeing just for that alone if you've ever wondered what it's like. It also nails the sense of hopelessness that people feel once their star has fallen and they can't figure out where to go or what to do next, the need for redemption that drives some people, the difficulty of opening up to love even when the possibility is right there in front of you... It's a genuinely great movie about pro wrestling.

Rourke, of course, is brilliant in this role.

[faller]

Thanks for giveing a bit of an insider perpective on this, i will definitly go see this one....... No guy's kissing, right????

[Boulderer77]

.

[gordi]

Thanks for giveing a bit of an insider perpective on this, i will definitly go see this one....... No guy's kissing, right????

No guys necking, anyway...

...plus Marisa Tomei plays a stripper and she's (un)dressed like one in most of her scenes!:a+




In the final scene, when it goes to the credits, I just sat there and listened to the song "The Wrestler" by Bruce Springsteen. It hit hard. As it played I just sat there and it really sunk in that I had just seen something amazing.

Yeah, that's pretty much how it worked for me, too.

[hugh mungus]

Good movie overall. I liked the fact we did'nt have to hate the main character(Rourke) during his downfall. He remained likeable the whole movie. As for Marisa Tomei....JESUS, what an incredible body. PERFECT. The drug scenes were pretty funny. The "Ram" got hosed on a couple things...should had done some research...LOL. I'd give it an 8.5/10 after seeing it once, but can see it bumping up to a 9/10 for sure.

[warlock]

I barelly go to the movies (mainly rent it) I have to ask one vague stupid question about it:
is it just about sad people living sad lives??? Or there is something else going at the end?

[hugh mungus]

It's pretty much a wrestler who's day in the sun is long past. He wrestles shitty little matches, has a part time job and health issues. He struggles, yet seems to ok with the fact his time has past. He even holds on to the fact he could be reborn...

[NorthOf60]

Thanks for the review. I have heard good things about it. I will go see it if it ever comes to the shit ass little Theater we have in my area.

[gordi]

I barelly go to the movies (mainly rent it) I have to ask one vague stupid question about it:
is it just about sad people living sad lives??? Or there is something else going at the end?

There are lots of hopeful and funny moments in the movie, it's not just a non-stop downer.

About the ending (might be kind of a spoiler, so I'll put it in black and you can scroll over it if you want to read it):


The ending kind of leaves it up to you to decide what happens next. Sometimes it seems like a rip-off when a director chooses to end a movie that way, but I think it's the best possible ending for this movie. If they'd gone with a simple happy ending, it would have felt forces and phony, but I don't think anyone wanted to watch a tragic ending, either. I kind of imagined things going OK for The Ram at the end. That worked for me.

[BDH]

It's pretty much a wrestler who's day in the sun is long past. He wrestles shitty little matches, has a part time job and health issues. He struggles, yet seems to ok with the fact his time has past. He even holds on to the fact he could be reborn...Sounds all too familiar...

I have to agree about this movie, though... one of the best Ive seen in recent years...

[slick rick]

I downloaded it and watched it a few nights ago. Great Movie, touching story thats fo sho.

[pinhead]

Very good movie. Rourke actually doesn't look like a freak..lol

[nitrous]

i didnt think it was that great