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Thread: "The Wrestler" wasn't actually all. that.

  1. #1
    Stegodon
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    Default "The Wrestler" wasn't actually all. that.

    It's so annoying when a movie receives undeserved praise. Mickey Rourke's and Marisa Tomei's faces were both fascinating, watching how they've aged, but other than a couple of mildly interesting scenes this movie was a snoozer. BTDT, ate the popcorn, 20 years ago.

    All That Jazz did it better.

  2. #2
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    Default Re: "The Wrestler" wasn't actually all. that.

    I think it was one of those years where there wasn't a whole lot of greatness to choose from. It was among the cream of the crap, so to speak.

    There were many aspects of the film that I thought were good. Marisa Tomei was excellent. Mickey Rourke showed a good range of emotion, and I thought the cinematography was perfect. The film looked like what the characters' inner-selves would look like if you could see them.

    I didn't think wrestling worked all that well as a backdrop for the film. I just can't take it seriously. I know some of the injuries are real, but the pre-planning and the utter goofiness of some of it just didn't resonate with me in terms of a parallel to reconciling issues in one's life. I will say that as a stand-alone scene, the match with the over-the-top violence [spoiler:2pc70t7c](the staple gun stuff)[/spoiler:2pc70t7c]was hilarious.

  3. #3
    Elen síla lumenn' omentielvo What Exit?'s avatar
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    Default Re: "The Wrestler" wasn't actually all. that.

    I thought this was one of the better movies I have seen in a long time. It grew on me over the next few days. When I left the Indian Jones movie with my kids this summer, I left having enjoyed the silly movie but over the next few days too much Fridge Logic set in and I have to admit it was a bad movie and obviously disjointed by too many hands in the script.

    The Wrestler was the opposite for me. I left slightly numb. It was a powerful movie to me and I thought everything but the daughter worked well. Over the next few days, thinking about the movie often, I realized how well done it was. I felt it was a great movie. I have to admit that I can't stand wrestling and for most of my life I had looked down on wrestling fans. I still thought it worked. The scenes in the Acme were especially great and the way [spoiler:3mtaqafi]he almost pulled his life back together and then blew it and sabotaged himself at the deli counter was incredible to me.[/spoiler:3mtaqafi]

    I did not find it boring but compelling and deeply moving.

    Anyway, my opinion on it and why I liked it,
    Jim

  4. #4
    Stegodon
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    Default Re: "The Wrestler" wasn't actually all. that.

    Boy, I kept wishing the folks behind Wonder Boys could've had a hand at this one, fleshed out the characters a bit more - the sadist with the staple gun was something I couldn't watch, but it was an interesting element that could've been explored further. The only person I found interesting was his twit of a boss at the grocery store.

    My husband was a HUGE wrestling fan, so I've been to a couple of meets and seen others on TV. Maybe that skewed my perspective.

  5. #5
    Why so serious? Tinker's avatar
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    Default Re: "The Wrestler" wasn't actually all. that.

    I can't wait to see this. People who didn't love a Darren Aronofsky movie are invariably wrong.
    "And I hope I don't get born again, 'cuz one time was enough!" -- Mark Sandman

  6. #6
    Oliphaunt Baldwin's avatar
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    Default Re: "The Wrestler" wasn't actually all. that.

    I liked it a lot. Excellent character study. These spoilers are kinda weird; think I'll try one. Because of all the Workers' Compensation claims I've set up, I started cringing as soon as I saw Randy was [spoiler:2mlov5v0]getting angry and careless with the meat slicer running. Jesus, that was hard to watch.[/spoiler:2mlov5v0]

  7. #7
    Elen síla lumenn' omentielvo What Exit?'s avatar
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    Default Re: "The Wrestler" wasn't actually all. that.

    bump

  8. #8
    Stegodon
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    Default Re: "The Wrestler" wasn't actually all. that.

    Yeah, the bit with the meat slicer had me shrinking in my seat like a scrotum in ice water.

    I saw this last night. I thought it was absolutely amazing on multiple levels. My opinion will no doubt evolve, but my immediate response is, Absolutely worthy of the praise it's been getting. It pulls off one of the most difficult illusions one can tackle in film, to wit, convincing the audience that these are real people living real lives in real places, with more life outside the edges of the screen and preceding and following the beginning and end of the film. That is no small achievement and anyone who dismisses it doesn't really understand how difficult it is to convincingly simulate life in this medium.

  9. #9
    Stegodon
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    Default Re: "The Wrestler" wasn't actually all. that.

    No - Seriously? I usually like your opinions, Cervaise, but I thought this movie was dull. predictable. shallow. trite.

    The opening part, where Pam talks refers to "The Last Temptation of Christ" made me cringe. Same with his speech in the ring, ugh.

    The cut to her doing her strip act as he's entering the ring, with the full-frontal nudity, was jolting and awkward.

    The scenes with his daughter didn't ring true for me - I've been that reconciling daughter. You don't just start dancing.

    The part with the doctor telling him to quit boxing b/c he'd had a bypass - I've seen that kind of conversation IRL, the paperwork they give you when you're discharged, the fear from being betrayed by your body, the appointments for follow-up and, ultimately, the indifference reflected by the medical community when the patient can't be bothered.

    Wasn't it obvious how the movie was going to end? The job wasn't going to work, someone was going to recognize him, he'd go back to the ring, etc.

    A couple of elements were interesting - him living in his van, his crappy boss, the other wrestlers. What happened to all the money he'd earned when he was a big deal? Why was he so incapable of sustaining a relationship with a woman, yet able to be supportive of his peers?

    Their aging faces were interesting, yes, and I missed Rourke's old voice. But I thought the plot was poor.

    All That Jazz did it better, IMHO, though I'm sure they didn't invent the form, either.

  10. #10
    Oliphaunt
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    Default Re: "The Wrestler" wasn't actually all. that.

    I agree the plot was poor, and Darren Aronofsky's direction always pisses me off. He can't be content with telling a story, he has to try to tell the audience how to feel about it also. I think the a good example of this is the scene mentioned above that intercut the strip club with the wrestling wring. It's heavy handed in the extreme, and so transperant that it's distracting. I had problems with the father daughter relationship as well, which felt like one gian bad dad cliche. I think had Mickey Rourke not been so very very good, the whole movie would have fallen apart. That being said, I do think that Mickey Rourke was phenominal. It was probably the performance of a lifetime, and he did keep the movie together, and it's worth seeing just for that.

  11. #11
    Stegodon
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    Default Re: "The Wrestler" wasn't actually all. that.

    I agree, I like Mickey Rourke. Rumblefish.

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