The Wrestler review
The marketers are clearly happy with the critical reception for their film about a washed up wrestler trying to find his way in life. The deep red promotional posters cram in a multitude of gushing quotes and enough five-out-of-five-stars to reduce an image of the main character to a relative microdot.
I just don’t get it. It’s decent, sure, and Mickey Rourke, as the lead actor, is fine. But the story is pedestrian and the central character and his relationships (with his daughter, a stripper, his co-wrestlers, and his fans), on which the minimal film relies, are too flat to sustain strong interest or stir remotely deep emotions. Go on; call me a heartless bastard.
Darren Aronofsky, the man behind the modern classic Requiem for a Dream, is capable of great things. This is an over-hyped, but still above-average film. Expectations were too high.
26th Jan 2009
