It has been made out to be the renaissance of Mickey Rourke the actor - which it is. But where it really does have something interesting to say is the behind-the-scene look at professional wrestling. A sport that I never followed due to its theatrics - but was pleasantly surprised by the the high levels of camaraderie amongst fellow wrestlers and though contrived, one realises that physical pain inflicted is all real. Brilliantly captured - right from pumping in of illegal steroids, choreographing of the fight scenes and the quirkiness of the props & personalities on stage.The plot itself is predictable in many ways - a desperately lonely individual attempting to break out of his slow path to destruction, reaches out to people that matter to him and hits the wall of expected inevitability. The supporting cast includes Marisa Tomei who plays a strip club dancer - does a good job, in her usual refreshing manner. However, the predictability of the broad story line takes nothing away from the execution of the movie - the wrestling scenes; the trailer park life; and in many ways, the recreation of the lost years of Mickey Rourke.
Mickey Rourke has been around for a while since coming back from his life in the boxing ring in the early 90s. This movie can be considered a tribute to the man. Not that he has great achievements against his name, but its just that he repeatedly played dodgy characters with a certain elegance and remarkably well. Its easy to forget his movies, but some stick to memory - like Wild Orchid and Angel Heart. Am sure Kogi K will remember the latter. I plug Mickey Rourke in the same league as some other unconventional guys like Ray Liotta & Kevin Bacon - people who have only been in rather ordinary films, but always bring a certain distinct intensity to their performances.
Anyway, here is his acceptance speech at the Golden Globes - interesting contribution from another lost soul from his generation Axl Rose and his comments on the director Darren Aronofsky who brought us this :
Rating: * * * +
2 comments:
Ah, the memories that Angel Heart brings back. And I am now forced to put this film on my queue!
was talking to a few guys at work about Wrestler & Mickey Rourke - and 9 and a half weeks, Angel Heart etc. When one of them said that Alec Baldwin would also fit in the same category of actors. Which I completely agreed with and . And then we spoke about that 5 min cameo of his in Glengarry Glen Ross. Another blast from the past.
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