Rourke in The Wrestler: A Synopsis and Review
Directed by Darren Aronofsky, starring Marissa Tomei. An Analysis.
As a project, The Wrestler would either secure an unprecedented comeback or professional suicide for Rourke. He shrewdly chose a script which reflected the seemingly eccentric life choices which attributed to his collapse as an actor. Like his character Randy ‘The Ram’ Robinson, Rourke was deemed too old when he attempted to return to boxing in the early nineties.
Meet Randy the Ram. Tomei and Rourke in their Oscar nominated roles
The film exposes Randy living precariously, locked out from his trailer for failing to pay the rent, taking excessive amounts of pain medication for his ailing body and frequenting a strip joint where he finds his only solace with Pam (Marisa Tomei).
Their relationship binds them symbolically to the eighties where they both once used their bodies gainfully to make ends meet. Pam’s fading sense of identity is all but destroyed as she realises that she cannot excite the paying customers. Similarly, by maintaining the cosmetic routine of self tanning and bleaching his lank hair, Randy believes he can maintain his integrity but he shies away from public recognition and cannot tolerate that his entire existence has fallen prey to this persona of the has been.
When a twentieth anniversary match is proposed against old time opponent Ayatollah, Randy thinks he has found a solution to his alienation. However, following a bloody stint in the ring against the Necro Butcher he suffers a major heart attack and is forced to withdraw from the event. With nothing left to live for, he attempts to reform the relationship with his estranged daughter Stephanie (Evan Rachel Wood). This is where the film really thrives.
Solitude Portrayed by Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler
Against a symbolic backdrop of an abandoned beachfront warehouse, Randy speaks with heart-rending tenderness: “I am an old broken down piece of meat and I deserve to be alone. I just don’t want you to hate me”. The veteran wrestler is nothing more than a decaying body, a brainless, emotionless mass of muscle, paid to haul meat around a supermarket. His penance for a once decadent lifestyle is his solitude and this is the most important theme in The Wrestler. This is expressed most adeptly through Rourke’s rolling tears. Also important is the promotional event where only a scattering of people arrive to praise the fading professionals as they wait patiently with physiques battered from years of thankless showmanship.
Robert Siegel Writes a Poignant End for Randy.
This sense of professional nostalgia, of time and love lost between a father and daughter is deeply affecting. One of the most moving sequences within the film occurs when Randy buys Stephanie a winter coat. His is held together with industrial tape and the stuffing protrudes from the seams. Randy carelessly destroys this already fragile bond by sleeping through their next meeting, having engaged in drug fuelled sex with a stranger. Stephanie exiles him from her life bitterly. He then quits his job publicly at the deli counter and slices his finger off in frustration. His body is the only tool he can use to rebel against the humiliation he faces in life.
Rescheduling the match, Randy resolves to be with his fans. Even when Pam quits her job for him, it is not enough to restore his faith in humanity. The Ram steps into the ring for what appears to be the final time. The shot cuts to darkness as he prepares to execute his signature ram jam move. As he inhales, stretching his arms away from the pain in his straining heart, we are left to wonder whether Randy’s story continues. The sudden narrative halt is disturbingly absolute but no doubt a fitting conclusion to the story of a man who could not find comfort anywhere other than in the ring.
Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler
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