Angel Dust on 7/4/2009 at 01:08
I know this film most likely came out quite a while ago for most of you guys but it's only just made its way out here and I wanna talk about it!
Mickey Rourke, as you may have heard, gives a career best performance as Randy "The Ram" Robinson and he truly is the film. Much has been made of the parallels between the character and the actor and while they are certainly hard to miss, I think that Rourke deserves much more credit than just channeling his own demons and natural charm. It is a complete performance from the big emotional scenes to the small details like the way he pops his hearing aid in or pulls his little luggage bag around. Aronovsky shoot everything with a great deal of veracity and that coupled with Rourke's performance turns Randy "The Ram" Robinson from a ridiculous character to one we believe and root for.
It's a real pity then that the film this character is in is simply nowhere near as good.
The problem is the script. Not so much for clunky dialog, although there is a little, but more for the way it attempts to force a cliched linear narrative onto a story that doesn't really need one. The scenes with his estranged daughter feel forced and artificial with resolutions that come too easily which consequently means the inevitable break up has little power. Evan Rachel Wood does a good job but she isn't given enough to make her character more than a plot pivot. Tomei fares a lot better and, by god, is she still smokin'! She turns a tired character, the stripper with the heart of gold, into flesh and blood and the chemistry between her and Rourke is palpable. However despite her best efforts she can still not give her character's 11th hour reciprocations of Randy's affections any ring of truth to it.
Now I still think the movie is a good one and there are many fantastic scenes including all the wrestling stuff, in the rind and behind the scenes, the climax and my personal favourite: his first shift at the deli counter . I just wish the film had taken a slightly more Raging Bull like approach to the character with the scenes set up to build character rather than shove Randy from plot point A to plot point B. Aronovsky has a lot of potential and this film is a step back in the right direction after the muddled and indulgent The Fountain but hopefully next time he can get a sharper script.
Kolya on 7/4/2009 at 06:09
I definitely plan on seeing this one. Sounds like the movie Rocky VI should have been.
thefonz on 7/4/2009 at 06:40
Excuse me, but did you just dis The Fountain??
Oh hell no!
june gloom on 7/4/2009 at 07:07
IT
IS
ON
GET READY TO RUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMBLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
SubJeff on 7/4/2009 at 07:12
The Fountain was overindulgent drivel.
henke on 7/4/2009 at 08:23
Make room for one more on a the Fountain-hatetrain!
The Wrestler is his best movie imo. Pi second best, then Requiem.
Also, that Springsteen song: :thumb:
Angel Dust on 7/4/2009 at 09:36
Yeah, I thought the song was quite good and I thought it was almost as much a part of the film as any scene and I really loved the way Aronovsky cut straight to black and let the song play for a couple of lines before rolling the credits . I found it quite disheartening that everyone in the cinema promptly left once the credits started rolling.
Kuuso on 7/4/2009 at 11:03
The Fountain is the best movie I've seen. Okay, not the best, but it's the only one I can watch again and again whenever I want. It's a masterpiece.
On The Wrestler: I agree with your opinion on the daughter-father stuff. It all seemed a bit detached and albeit I found the scenes in the docks quite amazing, it all seemed to fall flat. Otherwise I can't find much to complain about.
Morte on 7/4/2009 at 11:17
The father-daughter stuff is the one sour note in the movie. The actors do their best to sell it, but it's a real weakness in the screenplay.
Sulphur on 7/4/2009 at 15:56
The Fountain is a somewhat fractured film, one that even if you try and piece together doesn't really work as a whole. And the pacing kind of got on my nerves at times.
But that doesn't mean it's a completely terrible experience; the parts of it that do work, work very well because they're inspired in that very Aronofsky all-or-nothing way.
As for The Wrestler, I'm looking forward to seeing it, heard a lot of great things about it. A shame it didn't get to the Oscars, some more recognition for Rourke and Aronofsky would have been nice.
