The Wrestler

Darren Aronofsky returns with a surprisingly sensitive saga about the blood soaked wrestling ring. The director, a celebrated stalwart and Visionary Award-winner at the Stockholm Film Festival, has produced yet another soulful impact of a film. Combined with a stunning milestone performance from roughhouse actor Mickey Rourke, the star that was down but not out, Aronofsky creates a pure knockout, void of his usual explosive cinematography.

Rourke portrays a man named Randy Robinson. Under the moniker The Ram, he was a superstar on the American wrestling scene back in the 1980’s. But 25 years down the line he’s a has-been, a battered and bestialized steroid athlete, trapped by the only thing he’s ever been good at: fighting. He’s off the main circuit, going up against kill-crazy maniacs in sordid fights shunned by the television networks. The Ram is no longer prime time material. Mixed with a ringside private life smashed to painful pieces, it makes for a tender and extremely close portrait of a man trying to reassemble his existence.

Premiere Status
Nordic Premiere: Cast
Evan Rachel Wood, Marisa Tomei, Mickey Rourke, Todd Barry, Ernest Miller: Producer
Scott Franklin: Script
Robert D. Siegel: Cinematography
Maryse Alberti: Music
Clint Mansell: Spoken language
English