The Wrestler (Rating: 8)

Mickey Rourke makes an astounding acting comeback portraying Randy "The Ram" Robinson in Darren Aronofsky's film, The Wrestler. This film is gritty, heartfelt, and eye-opening. It has it's Rocky Balboa moments, but it's not Rocky 6. It's very documentary-esque in its styling.

The film begins with Robinson already at the end of his career. The work is hard and the pay is paltry. The Ram no longer fills arenas; instead he performs at local VFWs and high schools. Not able to pay his rent on a regular basis, he spends many nights sleeping in the back of his rusty, old van. While he was flying off the top ropes in the late 80's, taking out opponents with his signature "Ram Jam," he was also neglecting his daughter Stephanie, played by Evan Rachel Wood. When his life is jolted into perspective following a heart attack after a match, he tries to resurrect that relationship, though he's met with heavy resistance.

Robinson was urged to talk to his daughter by his exotic dancer love interest, Cassidy, played by Marisa Tomei. The interest is mistakenly one sided as Randy confuses a polite smile during $60 private dances as something more genuine. Cassidy is a single mother who starts to have feelings for Randy, but contains herself because she doesn't want to be seen as a stripper in the eyes of the man that she's with.

Rourke is the perfect actor to play this role. A roller coaster life, struggling with addiction, and being chewed up and spit out by his career, gave him a good understanding of how this character should be portrayed. I'm not sure I agree with Rourke receiving the Best Actor consideration in the Golden Globes, etc. He did a good job, but the story and the raw nature of the film had more to do with its success than Rourke did, in my opinion. If there were a Best Comeback Actor award, he would win hands down. I give this movie a solid 8 out of 10.

Watch the trailer: