The Wrestler

A magnificent role for Mickey Rourke as Randy Robinson, an ageing wrestler grappling with his emotions as much as with his opponents in this Golden Lion Winner at Venice 2008. There are inevitable comparisons with Marlon Brando, as Rourke, having emerged from his prize-fighting -and-plastic surgery of recent years gives the performance of his life in a role that allows for a gamut of emotions in a rich, patient spell of intimate storytelling. There’s no avoidance of the pantomime in the wrestling ring, but Director Aronofsky skilfully blends the real emotions of the wrestlers’ camaraderie and their connections with their families and friends, and achieves a sensitive connection with his audience which is likely to be hugely involved with the fate of this part-heroic, part-tragic figure.