Alone, facing a wall, a man sits in a state of palpably deep introspection. All we see is professional wrestler Randy “The Ram” Robinson’s back, his face buried in emasculate hands. Within seconds, the pained character, played by Mickey Rourke, an ex-boxer himself, begins to captivate audience members about to follow his journey of self-discovery and change.
Under the brilliant direction of Darren Aronofsky (Pi, Requiem for a Dream), Robert Sigel’s The Wrestler pulses with a human energy distinct from that of typical sports films. Told from the perspective of a man whose career peaked 20 years ago, Aronofsky’s film studies the human ability to change, examining Randy’s adaptation after so many years of wrong turns and bad decisions.
Robinson is a professional wrestler who in his twilight years is forced to take stock of his life when he suddenly suffers a heart attack. The film is beyond intimate, documenting Randy’s every sickly wheeze and under-the-breathe grumble. Director of photography Maryse Alberti shadows Randy with the camera, creating a distinct third-person perspective and placing the audience in Randy’s shoes.
Much like the film’s protagonist, Rourke tries to rekindle his own waning popularity in this film. Rourke performs many of his own stunts, exuding an enormous amount of energy that amplifies his mature acting. His convincing performances in the film’s graphic wrestling scenes build and bolster a character weathered by internal and external battle scars, appropriately embellished by the Christ-like imagery that—from Randy’s grizzly injuries to the “deliverance” he brings to the crowds—seems to permeate the film.
Randy’s only real human relationship is with Cassidy (Marisa Tomei), his dancer of choice at the local strip joint. Tomei masterfully plays Cassidy as a strong-willed woman overflowing with humanity. Randy’s intimate friendship with Cassidy highlights the characters’ parallel plights as performers who physically and emotionally expose themselves for the fantastical entertainment of others. Both struggle with the complications the aging process introduces to their respective professions, Randy through aching joints and Cassidy through uninterested bar patrons.
Randy’s relationship with his daughter, Stephanie (Evan Rachel Wood), proves even more complicated and frustrating. She represents a match Randy can’t win as he yearns for inclusion into her life after avoiding her for many years. Wood channels a profound intensity in her character’s particularly explosive scenes; in a moment of near-revelation between the two, Alberti focuses the camera and lighting on Randy’s face to reveal his paradoxically mysterious and accessible natures.
A tale of battered spirits and deep regret, The Wrestler ultimately posits the question: can people change? The film examines the human condition as it is broken and pinned down by the outside world. In the film’s title song, Bruce Springsteen appropriately rasps, “My only faith’s in the broken bones and bruises I display.” Randy’s bones may be broken, and his bruises smarting, but he’s never down for the count.
