Memphis Wrestling History:
A Review Of The New Movie, The Wrestler

I just finished watching Darren Aronofsky’s critically acclaimed movie, The Wrestler. My initial thoughts are that I really enjoyed it. The movie is about Randy “The Ram” Robinson, a washed-up wrestler who is 20 years past his prime. Randy (portrayed by Mickey Rourke) is no longer on the big cards and has been forced to wrestle weekends on the local independent circuit, (lowpaying gigs at American Legion Halls, High School Gyms and Bingo Halls.) During the week, he works as a stock boy at a local grocery store. His only friend is an older stripper who he blows his money on.

After the opening match, the wrestling promoter tells Randy that the 20th anniversary of his most famous match is about to take place. He would love to book the rematch at a fanfest convention in a few months. The Ram is in it to make money, so he agrees to it.

After a particularly brutal hardcore match, (panes of glass, barb wire, thumbtacks, staplegun, etc), Randy suffers a severe heart attack. After a double bypass operation, the doctor explains that years of wrestling and drugs have ruined his heart and wrestling is no longer an option because it will kill him.

Randy tries to change and tells all his promoters and tells them he’s retired. Next, he gets on weekends at the grocery store, (at the meat counter). He successfully attempts to reconnect with his daughter, who he all but abandoned as a child. Randy also tries to form a real relationship with his favorite stripper Cassidy, played by Marisa Tomei.

Eventually, Randy’s daughter has disowned him, he’s lost his job at the grocery and his stripper friend tells him they can’t be together. Feeling he has no options and not being able to cope in the real world, Randy gets on the phone and tells the promoter to get that special 20th anniversary rematch back on.

The match goes on, despite the stripper showing up and trying to talk Randy out of it. As his heart starts to fail, the Ram goes for the win with his final move off the top rope. The screen goes black.

My Thoughts

Mickey Rourke’s performance as professional wrestler, Randy “The Ram” Robinson sucks you in. The movie almost gives you the feel of a documentary, (even though it’s not portrayed as such). Rourke is that good and I believed he was “The Ram”. Whether Mickey is pulling his inspriation from the character of The Ram or if he's indeed reflecting on his own well documented fall from Hollywood, it works. Old School wrestling fans might find it interesting that in the few interviews with Rourke, he’s said that his character was somewhat modeled after Lex Luger. During the opening credits, they flash old 1980s wrestling magazines, newspaper clippings, etc and you can tell they took out Luger’s head from some of them and replaced it with Rourke’s. On a side note, I know it’s scary (ok, sad), but I think I’ve still got some of those old magazines, lol. Seriously, for a man in his mid 50’s, Mickey Rourke got into incredible physical shape for this movie. I also understand that his training regimen was overseen by Afa Anoai (of the Wild Samoans, WWE HOF) who has trained some of the best wrestlers in the world.

Marisa Tomei also does an excellent job as the emotionally damaged stripper, Cassidy. As we see Randy and her getting closer, we learn her real name is Pam and she has a 9 year old son. As you see more about Pam, you realize she is the real person while her stripper persona of Cassidy is the act. That separation lets her keep both worlds apart and but causes her hesitation in allowing a relationship with Randy.

In contrast, Randy’s wrestling character has become his realty because he can't cope with the real world. At one point in the movie, Randy even tells his daughter he tried to push her out of his mind and act like she didn’t exist. In the ring, Randy is always the hero who can’t lose while in the real world he’s a loser who can't hold a job, have a relationship with his daughter, etc. Pam can't wait to leave her stripper job while Randy can't live away from his job.

Evan Rachel Wood does an extremely good job as the emotionally devastated daughter of Randy’s. She has lived her whole life without her dad in her life and then out of the blue, he shows up again. Randy dangles a carrot in front of her and when she finally lets him in, he heartbreakingly pulls it away again. She has no choice but to completely cut Randy out of her life.

At the end of the movie Pam races to Randy at the arena. This action tells him they have a chance together. Randy knows there’s no life for him outside the ring. He still goes out and wrestles his last match. He’s got the heart pain, but does he live or does he die? Director Aronofsky doesn’t show us, but I’m fairly certain he dies. Like the great Springsteen song mentions, The Ram is truly a “One Trick Pony.” In the words of Jimmy Hart, "If you have a race horse and he breaks a leg, what do you do? You shoot him."

I don’t think this movie captured everything in the small independent wrestling promotions out there. There were tons of the right “catch phrases”, a decent blade job, etc. I guess the question is should it have, or is it even logical to think it could? The bottom line is this is Hollywood’s very first attempt at a real, authentic, non-documentary wrestling movie. With this said, I still feel this was an excellent wrestling movie. Now let me tie both those comment together. I remember when Platoon came out in the mid 1980s, everyone loved it and it won a ton of awards. Even though everyone called it that "Vietnam movie", in basic terms it was a movie about good (Willem Dafoe), evil (Tom Berenger) and a young man (Charlie Sheen) caught in between. Yes it did take place in the Vietnam War, but at its core was a movie about good vs evil, so it could have been placed in any war or time. However, because it was an excellent movie that included the Vietnam War, better movies about the Vietnam War were made, (that dealt with the war as their main subject). Before Platoon, many people didn’t talk about Vietnam and there weren't very many movies being made about it. I feel “The Wrestler” will have that same effect on Hollywood. The movie has excellent acting about real people having real issues. You can now have a realistic movie made about wrestling without the stupidity of the ones we’ve had to endure over the years, (No Holds Barred, Body Slam, etc).