The Wrestler

    The Wrestler
    2008

    Synopsis

    Aging wrestler Randy "The Ram" Robinson is long past his prime but still ready and rarin' to go on the pro-wrestling circuit. After a particularly brutal beating, however, Randy hangs up his tights, pursues a serious relationship with a long-in-the-tooth stripper, and tries to reconnect with his estranged daughter. But he can't resist the lure of the ring and readies himself for a comeback.

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    Cast

    • Mickey RourkeRandy 'The Ram' Robinson
    • Marisa TomeiCassidy
    • Evan Rachel WoodStephanie
    • Mark MargolisLenny
    • Todd BarryWayne
    • Wass StevensNick Volpe
    • Judah FriedlanderScott Brumberg
    • Ernest MillerThe Ayatollah
    • Dylan Keith SummersNecro Butcher
    • Tommy FarraTommy Rotten

    Recommendations

    • 100

      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.
    • 100

      Variety

      Rourke creates a galvanizing, humorous, deeply moving portrait that instantly takes its place among the great, iconic screen performances. An elemental story simply and brilliantly told, Darren Aronofsky's fourth feature is a winner from every possible angle.
    • 90

      The New Yorker

      What Rourke offers us, in short, is not just a comeback performance but something much rarer: a rounded, raddled portrait of a good man. Suddenly, there it is again--the charm, the anxious modesty, the never-distant hint of wrath, the teen-age smiles, and all the other virtues of a winner.
    • 88

      ReelViews

      Aronofsky's directorial style is simple and spare. There are no flourishes or attempts to convince us that he is a master of his craft.
    • 88

      Rolling Stone

      You watch The Wrestler (with a superb title song from Bruce Springsteen) in a state of pure exhilaration. A great actor in a great movie will do that to you.
    • 70

      Salon

      Whatever Aronofsky did -- or didn't -- do, Rourke's performance comes off beautifully. The Wrestler may not be the "best" Aronofsky movie in any technical sense. But the director clearly feels a great deal of tenderness toward his lead character.
    • 70

      The Hollywood Reporter

      Bolstered by a career-best performance from Mickey Rourke and outstanding work by Marisa Tomei and Evan Rachel Wood.
    • 70

      Film Threat

      The Wrestler could have been a groundbreaking drama, one that upturns the sensational genre roots from which it stems. With Rourke in such form, it could have been character-driven to the core – if only Aronofsky trusted his character enough to resist screenwriter Siegel's contrived plot thrusts.

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