THE WRESTLER

Director: Darren Aronofsky

Stars: Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood

Year: 2008

Rating: R

The poster sort of says it all - "Witness the Resurrection of Mickey Rourke." In arguably the best performance of his lengthy career, Rourke shines in his "comeback film" as Randy "The Ram" Robinson, a down-on-his-luck wrestling star from Jersey, whose life has changed very little in the twenty-plus years he's been in business.

During the 1980's, "The Ram" was one of the biggest stars in the wrestling circuit, selling out events coast to coast. He could take a hit as well as give it, and as a professional wrestler Randy has enjoyed a lengthy career that's made him a genuine celebrity in the sport to this day.

It's twenty years later now, however. Older but not yet wiser, Randy is just becoming to come to terms with the fact that his body and reflexes aren't what they used to be. It takes him longer to heal, now, when he's genuinely hurt in the ring, and he can't quite move with the speed and agility of his younger years. Soon after agreeing to a rematch of his biggest, most infamous fight of twenty years ago, going head-to-head with The Ayatollah (Ernest Miller), Randy - late one night after a match - suffers a heart attack that lays him up with double-bypass surgery. Only then does he really come to realize that he just can't do the work anymore - and how little a life he has outside the ring.

Marisa Tomei, also nominated for an Oscar for her work here, plays Cassidy - a stripper who befriends customer Rourke, ultimately becoming his friend-maybe-more ... and Evan Rachel Wood shines as the daughter of Randy "The Ram" Robinson, who never knew her father growing up and wants little to do with him now. Indeed, the scenes between Wood and Rourke, as The Ram tries valiantly to save the non-existent relationship between him and his now-grown daughter, are touching and very real.

But it's Rourke's show all the way, and in a remarkable and truly heartfelt performance Rourke makes Randy a likable, conflicted, and very compassionate human being. The first half of the film concentrates on The Ram and his wrestling career - including graphic scenes of the violent matches and what Randy's endured in them - but the last half concentrates on the soul of the broken man inside, and Randy's personal struggle to find his place in the world outside the ring. The script is well-written, smart and honest, and never for a moment will you doubt either the sincerity of the film ... or Randy's sincerity in trying to put back together the pieces of his life in order to not end that life alone. It's great work, and as good as Penn was Rourke equally deserved an Oscar for this career-defining work. Randy "The Ram" Robinson could have come off so one-dimensional in the hands of a lesser actor, but in Rourke he becomes a warm, hopelessly-flawed human being you'll both care about and want to know.

It's amazing work, and Rourke totally deserves all the acclaim (and the career resurrection) this one film has gotten him. After years of struggling with personal demons and bad choices in his personal life, Rourke - like The Ram - shines again at last. ****1/2 - Reel Awesome-Reel Must-See