The Wrestler on it's own is a pretty compelling and eye opening film about the seedy underbelly of wrestling or what Vince McMahon would call it... 'Sports Entertainment'. But I do think that if you are a fan or were ever a fan of the sport at any time in your life, you will get more out of watching this. Unlike most sports movies out there, this is not a feel good film with a happy ending. Truth be told, there is no happy anything here. At times, this is a very depressing movie to watch because having been a fan of wrestling back in the days of Hulk Hogan and Randy "Macho Man" Savage and then later during the Steve Austin and DX years, I know a lot about the dark side of wrestling.

I couldn't help but think of certain wrestlers (Mick Foley, Terry Funk, Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan) that continue to push on, well past their prime, looking for a quick buck and the lure of fan adulation. Mickey Rourke is absolutely amazing here as Randy "Ram" Robinson who does whatever it takes to stay in the spotlight, even though he is a shell of his former self. Now when I say Mickey is amazing, I don't mean just his acting. He literally transforms himself into a legit wrestler that is doing all of his own moves in the ring and doing it better than a lot of pros in the sport right now.

The other half of the equation that makes this movie work is of course Marisa Tomei. She knocked it out of the park here. At first when I was watching this movie, it didn't immediately hit me that she was playing the opposite side of the same coin as Ram. She is a stripper that is deemed "too old" and yet she pushes on, trying to get whatever money she can in spite of being past her prime. It's pushing it to say she is 'old' or that no one would want her. I mean, daaaaaaaaamn, she looks incredible and she really dives into her character. Yup, that's her stripping and hiding absolutely nothing. No body doubles here and she looks unbelievable. Hey, both Mickey and Marisa were nominated for for an Oscar for their roles. Good stuff.

Anyway, I highly recommend this as a Rent. I won't say it's a perfect film, because it's not. If you want to see a real life scenario involving a wrestler who was one of the biggest draws in the sport, crashing and burning and then has to resort to doing gymasoim shows to put food on the table, then you absolutely owe it to yourself to check out The Scott Hall Story. What you see here will leave you stunned and outraged about unscrupulous promoters that will do anything to sell tickets, even if it means putting on a show with a wrestler that is clearly doped up and drugged out.

The Wrestler didn't jell with me. Didn't care for it.