The Wrestler main backdrop
The Wrestler main poster

The Wrestler

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7.5/10 • 3.8K

2008-09-071h 49m

DramaRomance

Love. Pain. Glory.

Aging wrestler Randy "The Ram" Robinson is long past his prime but still ready and rarin' to go on the pro-wrestling circuit. After a particularly brutal beating, however, Randy hangs up his tights, pursues a serious relationship with a long-in-the-tooth stripper, and tries to reconnect with his estranged daughter. But he can't resist the lure of the ring and readies himself for a comeback.

Directors
Darren Aronofsky
Editors
Andrew Weisblum

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Mickey Rourke

    Mickey Rourke

    Randy

  2. Marisa Tomei

    Marisa Tomei

    Cassidy

  3. Evan Rachel Wood

    Evan Rachel Wood

    Stephanie

  4. Mark Margolis

    Mark Margolis

    Lenny

  5. Todd Barry

    Todd Barry

    Wayne

  6. Wass Stevens

    Wass Stevens

    Nick Volpe

  7. Judah Friedlander

    Judah Friedlander

    Scott Brumberg

  8. Ernest Miller

    Ernest Miller

    The Ayatollah

  9. Dylan Keith Summers

    Dylan Keith Summers

    Necro Butcher

Reviews3

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Wuchak Avatar

Wuchak

Sep 26, 2018

8/10

“The Wrestler” (2008) Twenty years past his glory days in the mid/late 80s, a wrestler (Mickey Rourke) struggles to make ends meet in New Jersey while wrestling on the weekends, taking illegal pain-meds, pursuing a dancer at the local strip club (Marisa Tomei) and trying to reestablish a relationship with his estranged daughter (Evan Rachel Wood). This is an engrossing, but gloomy drama about the grim reality of celebrities from practically any field who are long past their prime; it just happens to be a wrestler in this case. People mock how fake wrestling is, but those talented guys bend over backwards to entertain the audience with incredibly painful stunts. The film was shot in the winter in New Jersey and this augments the bleak pall. On the female front, Marisa is absolutely stunning as Cassidy (aka Pam) and Wood is convincing as the embittered daughter. Their relationships with the protagonist are a mixture of sweet, agonizing and moving. The soundtrack features several quality songs from the 80s: "Bang Your Head," "Round and Round," "Balls to the Wall," "Animal Magnetism," "Dangerous," "Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)," "Sweet Child o' Mine" and more. The movie reminded me of 80’s metal star Jon Mikl Thor and the excellent documentary “I Am Thor” (2015) and, to a lesser extent, “Anvil: The Story of Anvil” (2008). While neither of these is as melancholic as “The Wrestler,” and “I Am Thor” is sometimes laugh-out-loud amusing, they both effectively show the grey reality of former real-life celebs well past their halcyon days. The film runs 1 hour, 49 minutes. GRADE: A-

Media

  • The Wrestler poster
  • The Wrestler poster
  • The Wrestler poster
  • The Wrestler poster
  • The Wrestler poster
  • The Wrestler poster
  • The Wrestler poster
  • The Wrestler poster
  • The Wrestler poster

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
$6,000,000.00
Revenue
$44,734,660.00
Keywords
daughternew jerseysupermarketheart attackredemptionambitionbarbed wirestrippersteroidsfamepro wrestlingpro wrestlers