After an early dinner with my folks I went to see The Wrestler with a friend. He had an affinity for wrestling in high school, though I learned not for the extreme form displayed in the film. And, because I spent many hours of December and January in movie theaters I've seen the trailer numerous times and was intrigued.
My two favorite parts in the trailer are when Randy "The Ram" Robinson (played by Mickey Rourke) pleas for his daughter to allow him back into his life by saying "I'm an old broken down piece of meat and I deserve to be all alone. I just don't want you to hate me" and when Marisa Tomei's character Cassidy, a stripper Randy attempts to start a relationship with, tells him "I'm really here." The latter quote really hit home.
I was, however, disappointed with the movie. It portrayed a couple of the darker sides of life, drug/steroid use and stripping, and failed to end with even partial redemption for any of the characters. Randy was a tragic figure consumed and destroyed by his lifestyle in the ring. He failed to connect with anyone outside of wrestling, including his daughter and Cassidy. After attempts to reconcile with his daughter seemed likely, Randy's demons destroyed any hope of healing. And, the lack of a true connection between Randy and Cassidy took the punch out of the line "I'm really here."
I thought initially my disappointment was in The Wrestler's sad ending. But I recently saw Revolutionary Road, which has an ending that is certainly not uplifting, and absolutely loved it (review forthcoming). So, in addition to The Wrestler being sad and without redemption, it was also its failure to challenge or force me to ponder questions that left me unsatisfied.
I think, to steal a lyric from the movie's main song, the trailer was The Wrestler's one-trick pony. So save your money and watch it for free.
2 comments:
In part, I'd have to agree young lady. You'll have to find that friend of yours who dragged you to the film and give him what for. But in part, I dissent.
I guess I might characterize it a bit differently. I found the depictions appealing, well-played and well-done all around. But a certain thrust was lacking in the story. this i feel really robbed this film of a stronger punch, or drop-kick, as you please.
Then again, maybe the lack of redemption and absence of a feel-good ending was just the point. You can't help but feel sympathetic for Randy and Cassidy, whose hard-scrabble lives make you hurt. So maybe the writers intend no sugar-coating, and rather than a fairy-tale ending ala Pretty Woman, we get the best ending such a life, such a man, can get. That is, rather than being saved from the torture of his life, he gives into it, and dives right in.
Very well put Mr. Engel.
I certainly agree with your assessment that the depictions were well done. And, of course, I felt sympathetic for both Randy, Cassidy, and perhaps most of all his daughter. The irony is that his daughter is the only one left with possible redemption. Though she finally shuts Randy out of her life, the pain caused by her father's failure, I fear, will continue to torment her.
Maybe because in my younger years I identified too closely with aspects of his daughter's struggles and with Randy's own demons the giving in, as you put it, was unpalatable to me.
Regardless, your assessment has me asking myself questions of the movie; precisely what I claimed, it alone, had failed to do. So, I'll pass on giving that friend the what for. I'm happy to have seen it and even happier to have received some sage wisdom afterwards.
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