Review: 'The Wrestler' Grapples With Wrestling's Dark Side

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It's not hard to make a connection between Mickey Rourke and the character he plays in Darren Aronofsky's new film "The Wrestler." Both appear to be beat-up shells of their former selves, eternally trapped by their past glories and hoping for one chance at the big time.

No doubt, Rourke's portrayal of Randy "The Ram" Robinson is one of the most endearing, soul-searing performances in years. Wrestling fans--especially those who grew up during the glory days of the WWF in the 1980s--will find Rourke's performance even more poignant since it closely mirrors the lives of too many former pro wrestlers.

The Wrestler begins with Robinson performing in front of a crowd that is infinitely smaller than the ones he used to perform for back in the 80s. Outside of the ring, The Ram's life is a mess: he can't afford to pay the rent on his double-wide trailer because he spends all of his money on steroids and painkillers, his daughter hates him, and the only person he can talk to his a stripper played by Marisa Tomei.

After a particularly gruesome match involving staple guns and barbed wire, Robinson suffers a heart attack in the ring and his days in the ring are over. Without wrestling, he searches desperately for meaning, trying to patch things up with his daughter and find work in a grocery store.

Not surprisingly, The Ram finds that he can't stay out of the ring and is willing to put his life at risk just for one more shot at glory.

Wrestling fans may find some of these story elements familiar since the lives of so many real-life wrestlers seem to follow the same pattern. Over the years, there have been several tragic real-life stories involving wrestlers. Former star Ravishing Rick Rude died of a heart failure that may have been caused by steroid use. Similarly, Brian Pillman died of heart problems as did Davey Boy Smith, half of the famed tag-team The British Bulldogs. Arguably, the most tragic story of all is the story of Chris Benoit, who killed his wife and son before killing himself.

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Watching The Wrestler helps put a human face on some of those tragedies and helps us understand how grown men could put their life on the line to dress in tights and pretend to beat other people up.

One of the most endearing aspects of the film is how it illustrates the bizarre kinship between wrestlers. Watching The Ram and his fellow wrestlers calmly choreograph their fights beforehand and go out for beers afterward makes them seem both sweet and sad. 

While the film has its flaws--the female characters in the film are never fully fleshed out--The Wrestler makes up for it by bringing pathos to a part of America that we rarely see, a world of trailer parks, dingy community centers, sweaty locker rooms, strip malls, and dive bars that play Ratt, Poison and other hair metal bands on the jukebox all day.

Perhaps the perfect companion piece for The Wrestler is the 1999 documentary Beyond the Mat. The doc follows pro wrestlers and the physical and emotional struggles they have to go through to make in the ring. Some of the most memorable scenes include watching drunken former WWF star Jake "The Snake" Roberts have an awkward reunion with his estranged daughter. You also watch wrestler Mick Foley bandage himself up after being thrown onto a wrestling mat covered with thumbtacks as his wife and child look on in horror.

Such real-life scenes from Beyond the Mat clearly inspired the action in The Wrestler. Of course, that shouldn't be surprising: if there's one thing we know about wrestling is that it has no problem blurring the line between fact and fiction.