Super Frat

The Wrestler is a gritty, blood-soaked movie that will leave pretty drained.   It’s like the most depressing side of New Jersey and the 80’s packed into a two-hour movie.

(Spoiler)  Mickey plays Randy, a Hulk Hogan-esque professional wrestler who is far past his prime.  They don’t exactly tell you how Randy lost all his money or if he even made any when he was famous.  Marisa Tomei plays an aging stripper that’s Randy’s friend.  She’s sort of in the same boat: past her prime, looking at a long hard slog til the end of her days.

She is very naked in this movie, bros.  No bush, but you get to see her rack quite a bit.  I found myself missing her rack in some of the scenes.  (It is kinda despressing.)  The only line that doesn’t really ring true is when one of the patrons at the club complains she’s too old.  She may be, but she’s in awesome shape.

Full disclosure: I have some bias here.  I’m from New Jersey.  SOUTH Jersey.  And most of this is shot further north, where everywhere looks like Atlantic City before the casinos.  Parts were shot in deteoriating Asbury Park.  (Nice choice, by the way.)  It’s not that I don’t like north Jersey, but seeing the sleaze in my own backyard combined with kind of a downer of a storyline, just puts me on edge.  I just don’t like to see it, not that it isn’t a great place to shoot a movie.  Just seems so negative, somehow.

That being said, Mickey puts himself through the ringer for this film.  The backstage of professional wrestling rings very true and some of the best moments are when they show you some of the tricks of the trade.  Steroids, pain pills, razor blades and stuff from the dollar store are all in the mix.  It’s also funny to watch the wrestler hate each other in the ring and then talk friendly backstage.

Ultimately, Randy’s journey falls a little flat for me, only because director Darren Aronofsky jams some of the key events together a little too fast.  I also hated the camera following Randy from behind for the first third of the film.  Drove me nuts.  Still, it’s an intense film, well-crafted, with excellent performances all around and plenty of boobies.

I give this movie 10 out of 10 keggers for titty-related scenage and 8 out of 10 keggers overall. Wrestling fans will love this and movie fans will wonder, why doesn’t Mickey Rourke do more movies?