See The Wrestler. Or get ready for SPOILERS!!It'll be tough to find something novel to say about Mickey Rourke's performance. This character is totally conflicted until the end. In the blink of an eye Randy "The Ram" Robinson goes from annoyed to playful, connected to independent, sweet to aggressive, and hopeless to inspired. His glittering wrestler persona is in direct opposition to his real tattered life. This all sounds simple on paper, but Mickey Rourke is masterful at portraying a man who is totally present in both worlds. With age, he now has the opportunity to be a charming love interest as well as a charming father, and I just adore his charm factor. The charm is painfully short-lived, then, testosterone city, baby--but not necessarily the tearing-the-door-off-the-hinges type of manliness. It's a very focused masculinity that makes me love buff dudes with long hair. Putting up with tiny pricks of pain (staple gun to the chest, steroid shot in the butt, high-velocity airborne candlesticks), rocking out to AC/DC in a van, and lifting weights in the bathroom.
I'm all over the place.
Oh! The most wonderful contradiction of all--the fact that Randy is a sweet guy in this tough exterior. I know. Predictable. It's simple. Mickey Rourke makes this simple story fascinating by telling 12 other stories with his eyes, the only body part unscathed by Hollywood surgeons. In the end there is ultimate, independent redemption, without a snappy happy ending. I didn't cry until after I left the theater. I love this film, and I'm okay with the fact that I got my hopes WAY up for it.
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