- The following is a review of the movie 'The Wrestler', starring Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei and Evan Rachel Wood and directed by Darren Aronofsky.

Wrestling-Online Los Angeles correspondent Joseph Palreiro reporting:


If you've seen "Beyond The Mat", you probably feel that you have a good idea about the inner workings of professional wrestling.

You haven't seen anything yet.

In the mid-1980's, Robin Ramzinski became Randy "The Ram" Robinson (Mickey Rourke, sporting 40 pounds of new muscle), and a (moderate) legend was born.

A stream of magazine covers and articles touting "The Ram" as the next big thing, along with countless event posters update us on his history. My favorite "Ram" opponents have to be "Corporal Punishment" and the "Royal Rumbler".

We catch up with Randy 20 years later, recovering from his latest match. He's handed his pay for the night, cash in an envelope, and it's not much. Why? The box office was short for the night. Randy makes his way out and it's obvious he has just competed in a high school gymnasium. How the mighty have
fallen.

He makes his way to his vehicle (a Dodge Ram van, of course), completely with Randy "The Ram" action figure on the dash. (I think it's actually the Ultimate Warrior.)

Blaring 80's hair metal tunes all the way home, he discovers he's been locked out of his mobile home for not paying his rent...again. After a less than restful night's sleep in his van, he is awakened by a group of neighborhood kids, with whom he playfully jousts. Here at least, Randy is still a hero.

After a breakfast of painkillers and beer, Randy goes to work. Not to a wrestling event, but to the local market, where he toils in the warehouse. A plea for more hours ("Did they raise the price of tights?" asks his boss.) proves to be futile.

The next night's event seems to be a step up, nearly 200 people in a hotel ballroom. Randy goes over his match with the local heel, and shows us, for the first time,

his finishing move, the "Ram Jam" (an impressive looking double elbow to the chest/head from the top turnbuckle).

Director Darren Aronofsky is going for realism here in a big way. From showing the entire card's wrestlers going over their spots ("You got the leg?"), to to Randy's pre-match preparations, including shopping at the local 99-cent store for "weapons" and modifying and hiding a convenient razor blade under his tape.

Where do most wrestlers (according to Aronofsky) go after the match? The local strip club, of course. This is where we meet Cassidy (Marisa Tomei), a stripper who is on the wrong side of 30, and with whom Randy is completely smitten. Cassidy doesn't know much about wrestling, but she knows Randy's usually got cash on him. So a few minutes of flirtatious chit-chat and a half-hearted lap dances good for an easy $60. She's playing him for a mark. Irony? Perhaps.

Morning comes and it's pre-match preparation. This time, the "pharmacist", who seems to have just about every conceivable drug at his disposal. Can Randy afford it?

Of course not. Will he be given the drugs anyway because he's probably good for it, eventually? Of course he will.

Aronofsky's realism goes a step further as Randy, who is seemingly always desperate for cash, endures a series of hardcore matches with Combat Zone Wrestling's own Necro Butcher. (CZW and Ring Of Honor held actual cards, and the crew shot between matches) If you know him, no other explanation is necessary. If not, take a moment and look him up on Youtube. When you're done feeling ill, come back.

Necro (Dylan Summers) nearly steals this film single-handedly. It's hard not to when you have the following exchange:

Necro: "Are you OK with staples?"

Randy: "Staples?"

Necro: "Staple gun."

What follows is some of the best fighting action I've seen on film. The cuts are so long that you will have great difficulty finding a bump that Rourke does not legitimately take. (There is one, but I'm not telling.) Backtage, another touching, bonding moment:

Randy: "You OK from that table hit?"

Necro: "I'll live, sir. I'll live."

Another match, another beating. It almost seems too much to bear. And it is, for Randy at least, as a post-match heart attack put him in the local ICU, where he is advised by a doctor that wrestling is "not a good idea."

With no one at the hospital to pick him up, Randy takes a cab back to the arena, and finally makes his way home. For someone who has had such fame in the past, his home lacking in mementos, while his van is littered with photos, speaking to how much living he does in his van on the road.

At this point, Randy has enough to deal with, right? Wrong. Let's refer back to "Beyond The Mat" and visit Jake "The Snake" Roberts. It's time for....the estranged daughter.

Randy has not seen Stephanie (Evan Rachel Wood) in at least 10 years, based on the photo he has of her, and he's determined to make things right. Predictably, it goes poorly, as she knows he is simply trying to keep from being alone and eventually, she sends him away. In an attempt to sway her, he buys her a gift and tries again, with moderate success. If you think this will smooth things over, watch "Beyond The Mat" again.

Randy decides it's time to hang it up, so he calls his promoters to announce his retirement, and then he's off to see Cassidy with the good news. Good until you realize that Cassidy has been contemplating her own life, and it doesn't include Randy. It's time for Randy to come to a realization. He's going to need more hours at the market. Unfortunately, it's going to require him to work with the customers. The greatest indignation? His new nametag, which proudly reads, "Robin". Can you tell this is not going to go well either?

Everyone needs something to live for. The Ram" lives for glory. He lives for the fans. He even lives for the promoters. So after a not-so-pleasant shift behind the deli counter, he ends his retirement and calls the promoter who has set up his potential shining moment. A 20th anniversary match with his arch nemesis, "The Ayatollah" (Ernest "The Cat" Miller) at the ROH Fan Fest.

After a quick training montage that doesn't quite inspire comparisons to "Rocky", Randy is back home. Not HIS home, but the arena. Time to get in some work before the Fan Fest. As he makes his way to the back, we are treated to cameos by (the pre-WWE) D-Lo Brown and Ron Killings. (Note: You want to party with Ron, trust me.)

As Randy prepares for Fan Fest, he is visited by Pam. Pam? Oh. Pam is who Cassidy becomes when the sun comes up. (You'll notice you've never met a stripper named Pam.) Randy isn't too thrilled with having been blown off by Pam, so he half-heartedly invites her to the big match, although he doesn't tell here where it is being held. "The Ram" has no time for details. He's got a date with destiny. (No, not another stripper.)

Pam does manage to make it to the arena just prior to Randy's match and tries to convince him that he shouldn't wrestle because of his health and the fact that she is there, which is supposed to convince him that she cares. As his music hits, he tells her "This is where I belong" and heads to the ring for his "Rocky moment".

Randy gives a stirring speech about being told he was finished, but not leaving until the fans tell him to. This is followed by a warm embrace from his opponent and...a cheap shot to the back. The match is going well until...Is that a twinge in Randy's chest? The Ayatollah offers to end the match early, but Randy is having none of it. He's leaving it all in the ring, for better or worse.

At this point, wrestling fans will be equally divided. Half of you are sure that Randy fights through the pain, pulls off his finisher and basks in the glory of victory. The other half of you are sure that tragedy is about to befall "The Ram".

This time, you may both be right.