Zoom-in Online

The New York Film Festival is primarily known for its international flair and rigorous selection process, though no awards are handed out after the festival winds down. However, that doesn't mean that attendees won't be exposed to eventual Academy Award-worthy material. The Queen, No Country For Old Men, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Capote, and The Fog of War are just a sampling of critically acclaimed films that played at the festival and went on to receive multiple Oscar nominations and wins. This year's slate should prove just as fertile as past years' have, considering especially the inclusion of Clint Eastwood's Changeling and Darren Aronofsky's phenomenal The Wrestler. The buzzed-about follow up to 2006's The Fountain, The Wrestler is already generating murmurs of Academy Award glory catalyzed by a career-resurrecting performance by leading man Mickey Rourke. Not opening wide until December, the organizers of the New York Film Festival wisely selected The Wrestler as the closing night film for October 12th, whetting the palettes of critics and further spreading the word to audiences about one of the most powerful, well-crafted, and best films of the year.

In the 1980s, Randy "The Ram" Robinson (Mickey Rourke) was a professional wrestler, an exalted superstar in the peak of his prime with his own Nintendo game, posters, action figures, VHS tapes, and most importantly of all a nation of adoring fans. His match with the heel, The Ayatollah (Ernest Miller), went down in history as one of the most exciting wrestling events in history. Unfortunately for The Ram, that's all he is today: history. Losing his hearing, underpaid, and physically broken, The Ram ekes out a living wrestling on the independent circuit, fighting in mostly-filled gymnasiums and community centers in front of die-hard fans for pay that barely keeps him evicted from his trailer. He's admired by the neighborhood kids and respected at his local haunts and with the help of steroids and tanning salons, Randy keeps up the appearance of a capable, headlining wrestler.

The appearance, though is just skin deep. After one particularly brutal fight involving barbed wire, broken glass, and a staple gun Randy collapses in the dressing room; the victim of a severe heart attack. Faced with his potential demise, Randy is forced to retire from the ring finding himself emotionally and vocationally reeling. Deciding to pick up the pieces of his broken life, Randy settles down into a part-time job at a grocery store under the cynical watch of his self-important boss, Wayne (Todd Barry) and begins to cozy up to a stripper named Cassidy (Marisa Tomei), who, like him, is no spring chicken, but unlike him, has a plan of escape. Most important, Randy clumsily treads the path of reconciliation with his daughter Stephanie (Evan Rachel Wood) whom he abandoned back in his heyday. The road to hell is paved with good intentions and when the chance for a 20th anniversary rematch with The Ayatollah arises, The Ram's eyes will be opened to his life's true passion.

The primary and most prominent buzz about this film will surround Mickey Rourke and his award-worthy performance. Indeed, the only reason Rourke didn't win Best Actor when the film premiered at the Venice Film Festival was because the prize cannot go to a cast member of the Golden Lion-winning film, which The Wrestler was. While the Oscar bait parade isn't yet in full swing, the Academy will be hard-pressed to find a performance gritter, more touching, or more powerful than Rourke's turn as the washed up wrestler. His rough exterior belies a vulnerability, innocence, and naivety that connects us with Robinson immediately and that grounds the character in an everyman cloak of plausibility. Many films attempt that documentary, fly on the wall shooting style, and Aronofsky's choice to do so is amplified by the masterful subtitles in Rourke's performance, which forgoes flamboyancy for bumpkin-like awkward pauses and friendly banter. The methodology of his role should also signal a return to professionalism seeing the intense physical preparation he took to prepare for the role - which included months of intense wrestling choreography - and the steps he took to psychologically become The Ram. For instance, Rourke admits to refusing to rehearse his scenes with Wood in order to mimic the awkward first meeting between absent father and emotionally distant daughter. Only the second coming of Brando could steal the Best Actor prize away from Rourke this year.

Aronofsky describes The Wrestler as "a simple film" and indeed, there's nothing flashy, gaudy, or complex about it. That's not to say, however, that the film doesn't fire on all cylinders. While Rourke's work is phenomenal, his performance would be for naught if Aronofsky and screenwriter Robert D. Siegel didn't construct a story conducive to an emotional exploration of The Ram. Siegel's script lays Randy's life out as a neutral palette, neither pitying nor glamorizing the life of the eternal jobber, while still humbly inviting you to empathize with his withering sense of relevance. In one telling scene, Randy sits at an autograph table in a community center with other aged legends. After the handful of fans have trickled out for the day, Randy takes stock of his surroundings: one cohort has fallen asleep at his table, another is confined to a wheelchair, and one other barely conceals a urine collection bag strapped to his ankle. This is the world in which Randy has chosen to live, or perhaps, cannot escape. Aronofsky, aside from commanding brilliant performances from his entire cast, also injects the film with a gritty reality, opting to populate the cast with lifetime jobbers and professional wrestlers as extras, adding credibility to the locker room lingo and lifestyle. It's a testament to the maturity of Aronofsky as a filmmaker that he never judges Robinson's lifestyle and choices, instead portraying his life as an open book that we are free to interpret at will. His impartiality ultimately steers the film towards an unexpected yet perfect ending that encapsulates, mourns, and celebrates Randy's seemingly inescapable fate.

Up to this point, Darren Aronofsky has built a reputation for his bleak, cautionary films like Requiem For a Dream, which painted grotesque portraits of drug addiction, and The Fountain, which presented audiences with the futility of selfish love. The Wrestler is a departure for the Brooklyn-born filmmaker, attaching an inseparable beauty to the harsher moments of the story and may just be his most complete film to date.

The Wrestler will be released nationwide in December.

Background Buzz
A round up of related content from across the web including fan blogs, podcasts, analysis, news, magazines, and more.

-Mickey Rourke talks to MTV about his extensive physical training for the role of The Ram

-Read Cinematical's review from the Toronto International Film Festival

-IFC has an interview with director Darren Aronofsky

-Time Magazine has an article on the film as Mickey Rourke's comeback