The Wrestler Hit the DVD Circuit April 21 - Movie Review

One of the most-critically acclaimed films of the year, featured on dozens of year-end "top ten" lists and garnering numerous accolades for Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler debuted on Blu-ray Disc and DVD April 21, 2009 from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.

Much like the character he plays in The Wrestler, Mickey Rourke (Sin City, Man on Fire) resuscitated his career playing Randy "The Ram" Robinson, a legendary professional wrestler who is desperate to reclaim the fame and glory that surrounded him twenty years earlier. However a heart attack sidelines Randy and his plans. "The Ram" begins to evaluate his life and attempts to reconnect with his estranged daughter while trying to move his relationship with an exotic dancer Marisa Tomei (In The Bedroom, My Cousin Vinny) into a real-world relationship.

Randy's daughter wants nothing to do with him and Pam the exotic dancer won't get involved with a client, so Randy hauls his bruised and broken body back into the ring - the only place he has ever felt at home - in an attempt to re-stage his famous Madison Square Garden bout against "The Ayatollah."

I do not like critically acclaimed movies. There. I said it out loud.

While The Wrestler has a moving plot, in the same vein I found Happy-Go-Lucky boring and tedious, I also found the execution of The Wrestler to be tedious in its artsy attempt to be realistic. I don't pay to see a movie to watch people do mundane things like grocery shop, or exchange small talk, or serve deli food over and over. The Wrestler gets bogged down in such minutia. And there is quite a bit of gore and nudity. Marisa Tomei is lovely, but I have now seen much more of her than I ever wanted to see.

Hollywood does not agree with me, however. The Wrestler took home two Golden Globe® awards including Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama (Rourke) and Best Original Song (Bruce Springsteen) and features moving performances from Oscar winner and Golden Globe nominee Evan Rachel Wood (Thirteen, Across The Universe). The Wrestler Blu-ray disc features exclusive bonus materials including "Within the Ring" featurette and The Wrestler music video written and performed by Bruce Springsteen.

The Wrestler stars Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei and Evan Rachel Wood. The run time is 109 minutes, and The Wrestler is rated R for nudity and violence in the wrestling ring.

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