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With all due respect to one of my favorite directors
(Danny Boyle), “Slumdog Millionaire” while an exceptionally
good film with strong performances and a moving conclusion,
wasn’t the best film of the year. The same could be said
for the winner of Best Actor Sean Penn. He was rewarded
for playing a gay icon who was assassinated at the prime
of his life and for taking the risk of playing a gay character
(something that some actors are leery of doing). Penn gave
a terrific performance but in no way as moving or powerful
as Mickey Rourke’s brilliant turn as a washed up wrestler
struggling to hold on to his dignity in an undignified world
as he continues sliding down the slope of obscurity. ***
For Randy “The Ram” (Rourke) the luster of the wrestling
world has been tarnished by time just as his skills as a
performer have faded. He still enters the ring and battles
for audiences that are now disinterested. After a nasty
match Randy has a heart attack and is advised that his career
is over or his life is. Randy tries to reconcile with his
estranged daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) and also decides to
take a risk pursue a relationship with a stripper (Marisa
Tomei in a performance that is Rourke’s equal step-by-step).
When Randy makes the choice to step back into the ring those
who care about him have to wonder if he’s trying to kill
himself or if he is returning because it has defined him.
***
Directed by Darren Aronofsky (“Pi”, “Requiem for a
Dream”, “The Fountain” and the forthcoming remake of “RoboCop”)
and written by Robert Siegel ---
Image & Sound:
“The Wrestler” was shot with a semi-documentary look
in mind which explains the sharp but gritty picture on display
here. Make no mistake, however, just because I say it’s
gritty that doesn’t mean that “The Wrestler” looks bad—it
looks good on Blu-ray with colors that pop and nicely capturing
the intension of director Darren Aronofsky. However, that
being said the transfer could be better as there isn’t as
much depth to the images here—it looks better than the DVD
but is equally as flat looking. ***
Sound is equally as well reproduced with an uncompressed
5.1 DTS-HD soundtrack that sounds very impressive. Viewers
will be put dead and center in the ring with Randy “The
Ram”. Dialog remains nice and clear even during the most
intense scenes in the ring. ---
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