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Average User Score: 8 (27 sources)

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V_Translanka

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Before you watch this: How much punishment are you willing to watch someone go through? You basically watch a guy get the **** kicked out of him for close to 2 hours: physically, mentally and emotionally. This movie is charged. The arc may be...
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Before you watch this: How much punishment are you willing to watch someone go through? You basically watch a guy get the **** kicked out of him for close to 2 hours: physically, mentally and emotionally. This movie is charged. The arc may be obvious, but it is simultaneously brutal and after crawling up to some semblance of hope, it plunges down as if from the top rope. Yeah, I'll go ahead and say it: Best sports movie. Watch it.

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Posted aug 26, 2009 7:47 pm pt

Cryostorm1313

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Own It - "One the best movies of 2009." A great and powerful story of an interesting and unique character. The rawness of his world and the non mainstream ending may turn some off, but it's a brilliant film.

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Posted feb 26, 2009 2:08 pm pt

HendrixFan42

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A misleadingly simple film, The Wrestler is an understated masterpiece, a film that creeps up on you, and by the time the credits roll, the movie has gotten inside your mind and heart. Mickey Rourke is excellent, portraying Randy "The...
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A misleadingly simple film, The Wrestler is an understated masterpiece, a film that creeps up on you, and by the time the credits roll, the movie has gotten inside your mind and heart. Mickey Rourke is excellent, portraying Randy "The Ram" as a multi faceted human being, something rare in most movies. "The Ram" is tough, angry, regretful, yet tender, sweet, and meaning well. The supporting performances by Evan Rachel Wood as his estranged daughter and especially the subtle, powerful Marisa Tomei as the aging stripper he crushes on, are simply great, and the film has a perfect, realistic (and somewhat open ended) ending.

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Posted feb 10, 2009 5:55 am pt

goshwow

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Rourke's performance is heart wrenching, perfect - he was born for this role. There are many lessons to be learned from this movie, even if you haven't watched professional wrestling in your entire life.

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Posted feb 5, 2009 1:10 pm pt

vincentlaundrau

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The wrestler look like simple movie on the trailers and the matter of fact it is.But What makes it so great or epic on is own right.Well the great cast the movie has Rourke finally demostrates to everyone that he is indeed a great actor.Randy is...
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The wrestler look like simple movie on the trailers and the matter of fact it is.But What makes it so great or epic on is own right.Well the great cast the movie has Rourke finally demostrates to everyone that he is indeed a great actor.Randy is an old wrestler that has come along way but in the past 20 years his carrier an fans are slowly diminish.Now after 20 years he wants to make a comback.When you hear this you think your watching raw or hulk hogan the movie lol.When the film start rolling and character start to develop you get extremely attach to them, why because of the honest acting of both protagonist Tomei and Rourke.The simplicity of the movie maybe dragged down some people that are looking for deep storyline, but the center of the movie is not the story is character that are involve in it.The director Aronofsky capture the essence of the screenplay brought it to live in very different and simple way but still unique.Rourke deserved the oscar,his character develops around physical challenges that it get profound with his mental state making a character that attaches to people and they can become I identify with it.In the end it may not be complicated as bejamin bottom but in my check book is the best film of 2008.

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Posted jan 6, 2009 2:32 am pt

bourne36

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I just finish watching this movie and i was very impress with it. Mickey Rouke was awesome as the wrestler and Marisa Tomei was also great as a stripper at night and mom during the day. I hope they Mickey gets nominated for a Oscar which i think...
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I just finish watching this movie and i was very impress with it. Mickey Rouke was awesome as the wrestler and Marisa Tomei was also great as a stripper at night and mom during the day. I hope they Mickey gets nominated for a Oscar which i think he should.

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Posted jan 1, 2009 12:03 pm pt

• [+] Entertainment Weekly
  
  100
  The Wrestler is like "Rocky" made by the Scorsese of "Mean Streets." It's the rare movie fairy tale that's also a bravura work of art.

  by Owen Gleiberman | Read Full Review »
• [+] Variety
  
  100
  Rourke creates a galvanizing, humorous, deeply moving portrait that instantly takes its place among the great, iconic screen performances. An elemental story simply and brilliantly told, Darren Aronofsky's fourth feature is a winner from every possible angle.

  by Todd McCarthy | Read Full Review »
• [+] Premiere
  
  100
  Rourke is getting tons of press and award nominations, but Marisa Tomei kicks ass too. Not only does the one-time Oscar winner look amazing and perform her own pole tricks, but she effectively humanizes what could be just another naked chick in a movie.

  by Jenni Miller | Read Full Review »
• [+] Boston Globe
  
  100
  The Wrestler is a character study, no more and no less, yet it's open-ended enough to function as many things.

  by Ty Burr | Read Full Review »
• [+] San Francisco Chronicle
  
  100
  The movie has the simplicity and confidence of a Johnny Cash song.

  by Mick LaSalle | Read Full Review »
• [+] Chicago Sun-Times
  
  100
  This is Rourke doing astonishing physical acting.

  by Roger Ebert | Read Full Review »
• [+] Empire
  
  100
  An emotional smackdown. Rourke's never been better, and the change of pace and texture suits Aronofsky perfectly. "The Raging Bull" of wrestling movies? Oh, go on then.

  by Dan Jolin | Read Full Review »
• [+] Portland Oregonian
  
  91
  It's a raw and honest film, and it keeps its feet firmly on the ground, even as The Ram flies through the air to deliver -- or receive -- another beating in the squared circle of life.

  by Shawn Levy | Read Full Review »
• [+] Slate
  
  90
  The Ram is sometimes--often, even--a manipulative, self-pitying man, but Rourke and Aronofsky paint his portrait with a rigorous dignity.

  by Dana Stevens | Read Full Review »
• [+] The New York Times
  
  90
  Like its hero, the movie has a blunt, exuberant honesty, pulling off even its false moves with conviction and flair.

  by A.O. Scott | Read Full Review »
• [+] The New Yorker
  
  90
  What Rourke offers us, in short, is not just a comeback performance but something much rarer: a rounded, raddled portrait of a good man. Suddenly, there it is again--the charm, the anxious modesty, the never-distant hint of wrath, the teen-age smiles, and all the other virtues of a winner.

  by Anthony Lane | Read Full Review »
• [+] ReelViews
  
  88
  Aronofsky's directorial style is simple and spare. There are no flourishes or attempts to convince us that he is a master of his craft.

  by James Berardinelli | Read Full Review »
• [+] New York Post
  
  88
  The Wrestler offers something to pretty much everyone in the audience. Much like "The Sopranos," it creates a world that might make you feel utterly at home or exhilarated by strange horrors. Maybe both.

  by Kyle Smith | Read Full Review »
• [+] Miami Herald
  
  88
  The Wrestler presents a fascinating peek at the workings of the pro wrestling industry (the tenderness and humor the athletes share backstage is the complete opposite of the ferocity they display in the ring).

  by Rene Rodriguez | Read Full Review »
• [+] Chicago Tribune
  
  88
  The Wrestler works for the same reason "Rachel Getting Married" works. The way they're acted, shot, edited and scored, both films deploy a loose, rough-hewn documentary style to great dramatic advantage. The corn isn't hyped. The performances click without going for the jugular.

  by Michael Phillips | Read Full Review »