I deserve to be all alone. I just don't want you to hate me.

The Wrestler

By far one of the best and most overlooked films of 2008 was The Wrestler, the story of an aging wrestler trying to heal his professional and private life. This might be one of my favorite films of all time. It's wonderfully acted by Mickey Rourke and is brilliantly filmed. These two elements combined perfectly to make this stellar film.

Mickey Rourke is truly an artist. He IS Randy "The Ram" Robinson. He is living in the past and trying to reclaim the glory he once had, wrestling is the only thing he's really good at, it's where his heart is. He refuses to acknowledge that he needs wrestling more than wrestling needs him. He tries to make things work with his estranged daughter and his love interest, but he is an eternal fuck up. I'm sure Rourke brought a tremendous amount of his own life experience to this roll. Like Randy, Rourke was an in demand actor for a long time. Then he caught up in the lifestyle and seemed to fall off the face of the earth. And now, he's trying to make a comeback. On "Inside the Actor's Studio," Rourke said he improvised some of his dialogue, and he wrote Randy's moving final speech. During that speech, it's as if Rourke removes himself from Randy and speaks to the audience as himself. Rourke delivered an incredible performance and I was they could have split the vote for Best Actor last year. I really would've liked to see him win.

Director Darren Aronofsky is a masterful storyteller. He wonderfully parallels the aging Randy's desire to get back on top with aging stripper Cassidy. Both Randy and Cassidy are aging in misunderstood and unappreciated careers. They are getting too old to do their jobs but they don't know how to do anything else. They are kindred spirits but neither can get it together enough to make a relationship work. Cassidy wants to be Randy, but she can't risk getting involved with someone who could kill himself doing his job. It's painful to see love be just out of reach for characters.

What really struck me about The Wrestler is the way it's filmed. The film opens with Randy "The Ram" sitting in a kid's playroom after a fight, back to the camera. In the following scenes the camera stays on Randy's back, we don't see his face for quite sometime. This purposely reminds me of the way cameras follow wrestlers before matches. They attach themselves to the wrestler's back and follow them into the ring. These shots run rampant throughout The Wrestler. It's best used in the scene when Randy is about to start working in the deli at his day job. The faint sound of a roaring crowd can be heard as he walks into his "ring."

Additionally, the scenes of wrestling and it's violence are photographed well. Aronofsky brings a level of respect in his filming of wrestling. He understands what it means to fans and how carefully it can be choreographed. He shows how dramatic and violent the fights can get and really emphasizes how the wrestlers feed off the crowd.

One of my favorite scenes in The Wrestler is when Randy goes to the aging wrestler meet and greet. I was terrified that no one would show up, but a few of Randy's fans, both young and old attend. He beams when he's around them. It made me happy to see Randy get some kind of appreciation, even though he's ruined a lot of his life by his own doing. As the scene concludes, the camera lingers on some of the other wrestlers at the meet and greet. They have broken legs and other life changing injuries. Wrestling is not as glamorous as it is made out to be sometimes, and these are the sport's casualties.

As for the film's open ended ending, I think Randy dies. His heart is clearly faltering in the ring, but he won't quit. He's lost all the people he loves, all that he has left are these fans cheering for him. If he's going to go down, he's going down here. He's a broken down piece of meat but he's giving his last breath to wrestling, even though it's taken away a lot of his life and enabled him to waste the rest.

Casey Affleck in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

As Robert Ford, Casey Affleck delivers a tragic performance. He mixes cowardly, sketchy, twitchy, and admiration all into one character, like a crazed fan. He immediately makes viewers feel uncomfortable. I've always liked Casey Affleck and felt very comfortable around him on camera, so to immediately be so turned off by him is quite the compliment. What struck me is that we all know some version of Robert Ford. Socially awkward, wanting to be accepted by the "cool kids," he exists in almost any high school. Though some versions of these stock characters are harmless, others are dangerous like Ford. If he had been treated differently by his brothers, picked on less, his future could have been very different. He leaves viewers asking "What if," the way some people feel after a tragic school shooting. Affleck is haunting, understanding, and pitiful. He elicits so many contradictory feelings from viewers. This performance was truly remarkable.

Netflix

The Deer Hunter-Classic film of the 1970's.
Grey Gardens-HBO's version. I heard good things.
On the Waterfront-Netflix Instant. My moms always bugs me about seeing it, and she usually gives good film advice.