'Wrestler'-mania
Mickey Rourke would like to thank the Academy...
Take one part Hulk Hogan and one part Death of a Salesman, shaken not stirred, and you've got Darren Aronofsky's Cinéma vérité narrative, The Wrestler, the story of an aging ring-legend whose only solace is found amidst the sweat and blood of the ring and the nourishing applause of the crowd. Mickey Rourke, in a triumphant return from...utter obscurity?...well for anyone born later than 1980...plays an uncannily personal role as the battle scarred Randy "The Ram" Robinson which has thus far netted him accolades from the Golden Globes and a nod from the Academy (though snubbed at the SAG awards) and is likely to pencil in Rourke's name at the top of the A-list. Girls, break out your tissues and guys, start working on some clever excuses for your watery eyes, because if this blue-collar ode to the antihero doesn't pierce your emmotional center, you're probably a self-deceived replicant on the run from Harrison Ford. Dibs on your positronic brain.
Dustin Anglin