Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here.

Boy, I love this movie. I hate that trailer that premiered last week, though. Talk about giving away the entire movie for no good reason. How about saving some of the fireworks for the theater, Fox Searchlight?

At any rate, I think it’s a safe bet this one’s going to land in my top ten for the year, and I hope to see Mickey Rourke on the awards circuit in all his freaky glory.

They just screened the film at the AFI Dallas Fest, and we got these two reviews from readers who seem to be quite smitten with it as well:

Hello, I attended an advance screening of The Wrestler in Dallas last Wednesday hosted by AFI Dallas. Darren Aronofsky and Marisa Tomei were present for Q&A afterwards. Thought I'd share some thoughts/info.

I thought the film was excellent. I'm an Aronofsky fan so that's not really a surprise probably but the thing is this movie is very different from his others. If I'm not mistaken he didn't actually write the screenplay for this (though it was his concept originally). The film had considerably more humor in it than his previous films. It worked really well because the moments of levity balanced out the tragedy of Mickey Rourke's character's life and made you really like the guy and enjoy certain moments with him without wanting to cut your wrists (if they'd just dwelled on moments of misery). Rourke was definitely the highlight of the movie, he was spectacular. Randy "The Ram" was so nice and so lovable that your heart just breaks for him at certain moments. Particular when you see his heart break. I echo the call of some that he deserves and Oscar nod for this probably. A win may be pushing it but I guess we'll have to see what else is out there.

All the wrestlers in the movie, aside from Randy, were played by real wrestlers and Darren revealed in the Q&A that all of the locker room scenes were unscripted. They were quite fascinating, I say that as a non wrestling fan. The detail involved in their fight preparation was both hilarious and just plain neat to see. It gave me a new respect for wrestlers. Hard core sons of bitches, the lot of them.

Another difference between this and other Aronofsky films was the cinematography. All handheld, documentary style, and the camera went into the ring for the fights, like in Rocky. But it wasn't annoying shaky cam, it was very steady and intimate. Darren said he hated shaky cam (ala Cloverfield) and made sure he hired someone who could keep it from making the audience seasick.

Evan Rachel Wood plays Rourke's daughter. She was fine, especially if you like her. I get a little tired of the angsty youngster routine she has but she was fine. The first and last scenes with her were a little much but the middle one was very sweet. Watching Rourke talk to her, seeing that long close up of his face as his eyes begin to well with tears and then they fall down his cheaks…wow, I say again, he was spectacular in this.

Marisa Tomei was also good, she plays a stripper than Rourke falls for who has a story that kinda parallels the Ram. Between this and Before the devil knows you're dead this has been quite a naked streak for her. She is so freakin' hot. She said in the Q&A that she didn't know if people wanted to see that much of her (they do). She said Mickey Rourke showed her some stripper moves.

This film had very little music, also different from Aronofsky's others. It was very beautiful and well timed when it was used. I think they are using that cue in the Frost/Nixon trailer if I'm not mistaken.

All in all, I'm not sure. It may be behind the fountain and requiem for me…maybe. Definitely will have to think on that but the film was great.. really great. Go see it. In the Q&A, Darren denied all questions regarding Robocop and The Fighter. He refused to acknowledge that he even had another project he was working on. He was kind of winkwinknudgenudge about Robocop but I was surprised that he denied ever even hearing of the fighter…I thought that was in the process of happening. Anyhow, to sum up, great movie, emotional, funny, tragic, beautiful. The Q&A was great. They were both delightful.

nora inu

I agree with anyone who wants to spend time raving about how incredibly beautiful Tomei is. She makes her forties look great, and she’s also got this great soulful quality that her younger work never really had. It’s easy to talk about how brilliant Rourke is in the film, but she’s definitely a big part of what makes this film work.

Check out this second review.

Harry,

I've never sent anything to you before, but I attended the screening of The Wrestler last night in Dallas and posted a little blurb about it on my myspace blog. I thought you might be interested. Here's what I've written, no spoilers included:

The Movie:

The movie was riveting. Mickey Rourke was just simply impressive as Randy the Ram. He brought every emotion possible to this character. I've never been a fan of wrestling, but I was very intrigued by what goes on behind the scenes. I was surprised at how into it I was. Same as There Will Be Blood last year. I went in expecting to be bored to tears, but I got one of the best films of the year. This is this year's There Will Be Blood.

The camera style is grainy and hand-held, but it never feels like Cloverfield or Diary of the Dead. Just feels like a documentary. Like we were just following him around.

Some of the best scenes were the more humorous ones. Be looking out for the locker room scenes, the shopping scene, and the scenes of Randy at his day job. Like I said, it was really the emotion that Mickey Rourke brings to this character that makes it all so incredible. He brings such humor to the role of a man who's life is really very very sad.

Marisa Tomei plays the love interest, a stripper named Cassidy. After seeing her in War, Inc., this was really refreshing. This is the Tomei we love. She wasn't in the film as much as I thought she would be, but she does very well with the role. Evan Rachel Wood plays Randy's daughter, and she's not in the movie much either. Really, the bulk of the film is carried by Rourke alone.

The music in the film was fun as well. Instead of a sweeping score, Aronofsky chose popular songs to highlight the action. Mostly 80's hair metal. The music added the perfect amount of nostalgia to compliment the character of Randy - a man still stuck in the 80's when he was in his prime.

It's an extremely moving film, which is the exact opposite of what I expected.

4.5 stars

The Q&A

Immediately after the film, director Darren Aronofsky and Acadamy award winner Marisa Tomei were brought in. Since we were on the aisle, they walked right by us. I kept kidding Jeff that he was 12 inches from Marisa Tomei's ass.

The director for AFI Dallas conducted the first part of the Q&A, and then opened it up to the audience for questions. Someone asked Tomei how it feels to still be a sex symbol. As soon as he finished the question, she opened her eyes real wide and gasped like she had never heard that before, or like she thought that she was past her prime. It was really very cute and made her just that much more real. (She looked adorable by the way. She's this very petite little thing and she looks much more gorgeous in real life than she's looked lately on screen.)

A critic asked a very interesting question about the backstory of Tomei's character, which made me think more about the film. I won't go into it here because I don't want to give anything away about the film. When you see the film and are still interested, just ask and I'll tell you.

Someone also asked Aronofsky about the score, or rather, the lack of one. He said that in this film, a score wasn't needed. The actors told the story. He wanted the scattered rock songs, but that's it. He did say that the Bruce Springsteen song that plays during the credits is one that Bruce wrote while on tour in Europe, and then gave to them for free because he loved the script so much.

As soon as the Q&A was over, Aronofsky and Tomei were escorted out and to their limos, so there was no socializing. A few people on the very front row rushed them and got some autographs, but that's about it.

Thanks!

Jenny Alme