The Wrestler [Blu-ray] | ![The Wrestler [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51LeD6GNObL._SL500_.jpg) | Director: Darren Aronofsky
Actors: Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood
Studio: Fox Searchlight
Category: DVD
List Price: $39.99
Buy Used: $7.95
as of 3/21/2010 23:59 EDT details
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New (34) Used (25) from $7.95
Seller: SourceMedia
Rating:  229 reviews
Sales Rank: 10465
Format: AC-3, Color, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen
Languages: English (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: Blu-ray
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Number Of Discs: 2
Running Time: 109 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 5.3 x 0.5
MPN: 2257505
UPC: 024543575054
EAN: 0024543575054
ASIN: B001TOD9VI
Theatrical Release Date: 2008
Release Date: April 21, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
No description available for this title.
Item Type: BLU-RAY DVD Movie
Item Rating: R
Street Date: 04/21/09
Wide Screen: yes
Director Cut: no
Special Edition: no
Language: ENGLISH
Foreign Film: noSubtitles: no
Dubbed: no
Full Frame: no
Re-Release: no
Packaging: Sleeve
Amazon.com
The mystery of Mickey Rourke's career comes to a grungy apotheosis in The Wrestler the much-battered actor's triumphant return to the top rope. He plays Randy "The Ram" Robinson, a heavily scarred and medicated battler who's twenty years past his best moment in the ring. But he still schleps to every second-rate fight card he can get to, stringing out the paychecks (more likely a fistful of cash) and nursing what's left of his pride. His attempts to adjust to a more normal kind of life form the most absorbing sections in the movie, whether it's flirting with a stripper (Marisa Tomei is in good form, in every sense), establishing a bond with his understandably angry daughter (Evan Rachel Wood), or working behind the deli counter at a nondescript megastore. Rourke is commanding in the role; he obviously spent hours in the gym and the tanning salon, and his ease with the semi-documentary style adopted by director Darren Aronofsky allows him to naturalistically interact with the colorful real-life wrestlers who crowd the movie's ultra-believable locations. All of which helps distract from the film's overall adherence to ancient formula. You might find yourself waiting for the scene where the risk-taking Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream) pulls the switch and reveals his true motives for pursuing this otherwise sentimental story, but there's no switch. The Wrestler is an old-fashioned hoke machine, given grit by an actor who doesn't seem to be so much performing the role of ravaged survivor as embodying it. --Robert Horton
Stills from The Wrestler (Click for larger image)
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 229
 In response to those who have given this movie a poor review... March 13, 2010
Kevin Conaway
[Spoiler - I'll give away a good chunk of the story here, so if you haven't seen the movie yet, don't read this]
At the time that I am writing this review, this movie is almost a year old, and currently has 132 5-star reviews on Amazon. I don't think that there is really all that much that I can say about it to praise it that hasn't already been said. Suffice it to say that I really enjoyed this movie and gave it a 5-star rating as well.
One thing I enjoy doing on here is seeing what the "other side" thinks and reading the 1-star reviews. Now, I usually try to play nice and not insult other people online, but I just can't help myself. The worst kind of idiot is the kind that doesn't realize they're an idiot and puts their idiocy on display repeatedly for everyone to see. These people are idiots... in the worst way.
Every 1-star review that I read said the same thing. I'll sum it up in my own words: "Mickey and Marisa were good, but I don't like the sleazy lifestyle that the film portrays and I don't like that The Ram didn't redeem himself." A few people even went as far as to say that this movie represents the dumbing down of society. In my opinion, the only dumbing down of society that I see is the people that fail to grasp what this movie is about and simply expect that every movie should have a feel-good ending with a noble hero.
Truth is that not everyone in life is able to redeem themselves and right their wrongs. The Ram's life has been in a downward spiral for 20 years. Due to a heart attack, he is forced to try to change it, but wrestling is the only thing he knows, and he's already burnt the bridge with his daughter. He can't relate to the world around him and feels out of place in it (he's even still clinging to his old Nintendo game with his character in it and has never heard of the one that the kid talks about). When he screws up his relationship again with his daughter and gets rejected by the one woman that he thought understood him, he comes to the realization that the only place that he actually belongs is in wrestling; it's the only life he knows. At the end of the movie he claims that he can only get hurt outside of the ring.
No, it's not a happy ending. It's sad to watch The Ram on this path of self-destruction. I'll admit that I was captivated by the character and wanted to see him turn his life around. When he started talking to his daughter again, I was pulling for him. When he met with Pam outside of the club, I was pulling for him. When it all fell apart, I felt for him. This movie depressed me, as it did to many of the reviewers who slammed it. The point being that I recognize the fact that the emotional effect that the movie had on me was because I was engulfed and emotionally involved in the movie... and if it could emotionally effect me, then the movie did what was intended to do. Those who gave it a 1-star review simply dismissed it because it wasn't a happy ending. Sad, really, what our society is coming to.
I very rarely give 5 stars to any movie and/or actor, BUT, and this February 11, 2010
kittykins (boston, ma)
is a BIG BUT, I could never resist Mickey Rourke, who, unlike a lot of other actors quit the biz to do something else, still makes movies when he feels like it. Lets face it ,that's pretty rare, and Mickey hasen't made that many movies. Or maybe I'm giving him too much credit or he has a really, really, good agent. Either way, I've always enjoyed his acting even though he plays basically the same character in each movie. This "Wrestler" character is perfect for his type of pathos/acting, we really feel for this washed up has been. He trys to do the right thing, but ends up screwing up anyway. Mickey did a good job with this and hope he makes more movies before he retires. Enjoy!
 A Great Glimpse into the World of Wrestling February 7, 2010
Teriek Williams (New York, NY)
The life of a wrestler is undoubtedly an interesting one. A part of an orchestrated world of sports entertainment, it is easy for those a part of or fans of legitimate sports to dismiss the "fakeness" of wrestling. However, the life of a wrestler is indeed a difficult one as Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler demonstrates. A complete departure from his earlier films such as the existentialist Pi (1998) or the depressive Requiem for a Dream (2000), The Wrestler is a human tale of guilt and redemption in a world of enormous pitfalls and tragedy. The Wrestler tells the story of Randy "The Ram" Robinson (Mickey Rourke), a 1980s wrestling celebrity who struggles past his prime in the 2000s and eventually finds himself in need of a coronary artery bypass surgery that effectively ends his career. Forced to face a "normal life," Randy attempts to begin a relationship with Cassidy (Marisa Tomei) a down-and-out stripper and repair a damaged relationship with his daughter Stephanie (Evan Rachel Wood).
As a 1980s wrestling legend, Randy Robinson is a part of the old guard of the American wrestling industry. During this period, wrestlers often entered into one-sided contracts in which non-participation due to injury meant no pay. The lack of pay meant an inability to feed for family or yourself for that matter. As a result, wrestlers compelled themselves to take any kind of performance-enhancing drugs or painkillers to make it through a grueling work schedule. The resulting factor meant the early deaths of several wrestlers from their chemical dependency and the self-destructive lifestyles they lived as a result of a fall from popularity. The recent deaths of Miss Elizabeth, Andrew "Test" Martin, Chris Benoit and Brian "Crush" Adams are a testament to this. Many of those who survived are still victims of broken families, drug addiction and destroyed lives. As many are condemned to the local circuit of "no-holds-barred" hardcore wrestling, wrestlers fight in brutally violent matches as shown in The Wrestler and live in the shadow of faded careers. Mickey Rourke's performance captures the desperation of wrestlers from the old guard who are forced to demean themselves and act out of sheer desperation. The fractured family of many athletes is also captured in Robert D. Siegel's screenplay as Randy Robinson attempts to regain trust with a daughter he abandoned.
Although it is one of the most unlikely of movies, The Wrestler focuses on the heartbreak of fallen wrestlers of a period of exploitation and apathy. It gives a comprehensive glimpse into the "fake" sport with the most real and binding of consequences. Mickey Rourke shines in the most poignant performance of his career seeing how Rourke's career runs amazingly parallel to Robinson's. Although depressing until the end, the unresolved yet triumphant conclusion is refreshing. The most positive thing to take from the film is the relief that the wrestling industry has significantly changed with its contractual agreements being mutually beneficially and the industry itself leaning more family-orientated than before both in its presentation on television and with the backstage banter. Ending on the performance of Bruce Springsteen's Golden Globe Award-winning composition "The Wrestler," the film concludes as the most spirited view of the wrestling world.
The Wrestler February 3, 2010
Arnita D. Brown (USA)
This is a drama about an aging professional wrestler, decades past his prime, who now barely gets by working small wrestling shows in VFW halls and as a part-time grocery store employee. As he faces health problems that may end his wrestling career for good he attempts to come to terms with his life outside the ring: by working full time at the grocery store, trying to reconcile with the daughter he abandoned in childhood and forming a closer bond with a stripper he has romantic feelings for. He struggles with his new life and an offer of a high-profile rematch with his 1980s arch-nemesis, The Ayatollah, which may be his ticket back to stardom. In this movie Mickey Rourke doesn't just play a wrestler, he is a wrestling star, he is Randy The Ram in every way. 'The Wrestler' is great. It's a rich, round movie that smoothly weaves together pathos and comedy and soul. It's funny and dramatic, tear-jerking and tough. Definitely a must see.
Instant Classic January 29, 2010
Cephus1984 (Birmingham, AL.)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I love this movie. Netflix delivered the blu ray to my house and I have watched it twice and I will watch it again this weekend. I have never been a fan of Mickey Rourke and I have never been a fan of wrestling. None of that matters. Mickey Rourke should win best actor for this role. I don't know if he did or not because I don't watch award shows. This movie is EXCELLENT! Instant Classic. Right up there with Rocky. Maybe it is because I am approach 45 and having a mid life crisis or maybe because the 1980's were my best days too. Maybe because I love hair metal music or maybe because I agree with Randy The Ram "The 90's sucked!"
Showing reviews 1-5 of 229
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