Beaks here...

Darren Aronofsky had an interesting weekend: his fourth film, THE WRESTLER, received the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, screened to (mostly) acclaim at the Toronto Film Festival, and found distribution through Fox Searchlight (which will give the film an Oscar qualifying release this year). Though Time's Richard Corliss may not agree, I think it's all incredibly well-deserved - particularly after the undeserved critical drubbing of THE FOUNTAIN in 2006.

I'm sure we'll have an abundance of reviews pouring in as THE WRESTLER continues to screen this week up in Toronto. Hopefully, they'll all be as impressed as this one from JA.

Hey gang,

First and foremost, anyone who goes into "The Wrestler" expecting to see something in the visually unrelenting vein of "Requiem for a Dream" or "The Fountain" is going to be sorely disappointed. This is a small movie in practically every way, and Darren Aronofsky completely re-invents himself as a director here by opting to put copious amounts of emphasis on the characters of the story rather than how he actually shoots it. The movie's workmanlike aesthetic is kinda reminiscent of the small, gritty films of the seventies and it's refreshing to see Aronofsky cut through his (admittedly beautiful) superfluities and deliver something as raw and low key as this. This is a movie that was designed around it's lead, and everything you've heard about Rourke in this movie so far is absolutely, 100% true.

As most of you already know, "The Wrestler" tells the story of Randy "The Ram" Robinson, a washed-up, former pro wrestler from the 1980's. Unfortunately, the Ram is broke and the film follows him through his day to day exploits that include wrestling at public schools, signing autographs at the local community centre and being the most charismatic/scary deli worker in New Jersey. After one particularly brutal match (that had the entire audience I saw the film with cringing) though, Randy's lifestyle takes it's toll on him and he has a heart attack and collapses backstage. After emergency surgery, the doctors tell him that he has to give up his life of wrestling and the Ram has to make a decision about whether to leave his old life behind for good, or fight one last 20th anniversary match against his most famous rival "The Ayatollah." Along the way, Randy also tries to re-connect with his estranged daughter Stephanie (Evan Rachel Wood) and finally seal the proverbial deal with Cassidy (Marisa Tomei), a stripper he's been not-so-secretly pining for for years. We've seen what ensues countless times before, but rarely done as well as it is here, so it's easy to forgive the film for being as simple as it turns out to be.

Mickey Rourke is the anchor of "The Wrestler" and it's unfathomable to me that anyone else, especially Nicholas Cage, could have been considered for the role (though those long, bleached blonde locks would have made for one hell of a hairpiece) Mickey's performance in this movie is simultaneously angry, fragile, inspiring, funny and above all else, super, super brave. Aronofsky was smart to hire an actor who could run the gamut of emotions Rourke is required to hit in this movie and there is an added strength in some of the more poignant scenes when you realize that the shit Mickey is saying could easily be an autobiographical diatribe. The last scene in particular is so wildly, viscerally ALIVE that it's almost intimidating to watch Rourke's performance. He's that good and better in this movie and the talk of him being nominated for an Oscar is, for once, completely warranted.

While Marisa Tomei doesn't get as much to do in the movie as Cassidy, the stripper that The Ram is completely infatuated with (yeah, she gets really, really naked), she gives a fantastic performance as another character who has been perpetually weathered by time and her occupation. While Mickey's character is more willing to let people in, Tomei's is completely closed to the idea of being able to really, truly connect with anyone else and it makes the relationship between them heartbreakingly fruitless. Evan Rachel Wood doesn't fare as well as Randy's daughter, though, and Aronofsky unwisely let her spend way too much time dialed up to eleven. While you can understand her resentment towards a father who hasn't even tried to speak with her in years, she's portrayed as such a bitch that it's really hard to sympathize with her. I'm not sure whether the fault is Wood's or the script though.

Robert D. Siegel, whose only other writing credit is "The Onion Movie," has written a fairly surprising script here, so I feel like an asshat calling it the movie's only real downfall. While the writing is definitely good *enough*, there was so much potential and talent on display here that the (at times a little too maudlin and formulaic) screenplay is the only thing holding the film back from becoming a minor classic. Once again, Clint Mansell is onboard to score and while the music he has written for "The Wrestler" is beautiful, it's used so sparsely in the movie that it's hard to gain a proper appreciation for it. (You can hear some of it at: http://www.myspace.com/mansellclint) Instead, Aronofsky opts to use a lot of metal and rock from the 80's. I believe this is the first time he's used popular songs in one of his films, and for the most part, it works to a great effect ("Sweet Child o'Mine" is a moment that really stands out)

Overall, I think "The Wrestler" marks a growth for Darren Aronofsky as a director. While "Pi" and "Requiem for a Dream" were both great films, I think that perhaps he learnt a lesson about relying too much on the visual aspect of his films with "The Fountain," a movie that had so much potential but ultimately rang hollow to me. The performance he's wrangled out of Rourke is the best that he's ever gotten from an actor and the best that Rourke has given. While I'm having a hard time deciding whether I like the movie or the performance more, both are so good that I think they'll definitely stick out this Oscar season. This is the very definition of "little movie that could" and Aronofsky has further cemented his reputation as one of the greatest filmmakers of this generation while managing to blow the dust off of Mickey's veritable and oft-forgotten 'icon' status.