The Wrestler is certainly one of those movies that keeps you thinking long after the movie’s over and a movie you will never forget. You will remember this film because of its emotional story and a masterful performance by one of the greats, a Mr. Mickey Rourke. This is a film that will make you feel every emotion there is, because everything in this film is felt by both the main character and the audience. Every punch, chair, and staple gun Randy gets to the leg, face, or back, every word he’s called, every feeling of happiness is felt by both Randy “The Ram” Robinson and the audience. These feelings are felt because of the spectacular direction and amazing performances by all, except for Rourke’s. His performance can’t just be called amazing, that’s an insult. His performance was nothing short of perfection.

 The Wrestler is the emotional story of your average common man who wants to be somebody. Except the only difference here is that this average joe is that he has been somebody, only that was 20 years ago and his life has gone down the tubes. He’s now just an “old broken down piece of meat” and he’s got a lot of regrets that he wants to make up for. He’s made mistakes like anyone and he wants to make up for them. He wants his daughter’s (Evan Rachel Wood) affection back. He wants to love again and he attempts to find that love in a stripper with her own problems (Marisa Tomei). The only problem is that “The Ram” isn’t so easily changed. He can never forget the blood, sweat and cheers. 

This much more to say, but I don’t want to give away too much. The Wrestler is a film that manages to find and tap into all of our deepest emotions and dreams. Its much more than your average movie, which ironic because it’s about a very average character. This will surely strike a nerve in the hearts of millions because of its sad tale of love, life, dreams, and regret and also because of one of the most believable performances ever filmed. 

Grade: A