SMT Weekly Flick by Paul Krismanits
Randy Robinson, known as “The Ram,” is played brilliantly by Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler.
Slumdog Millionaire (Rated R) 120 mins.
The Wrestler (Rated R) 105 mins.
Sometimes, as AM/PM puts it, there is just “too much good stuff,” which is exactly what December brought to this lowly critic. Too much good stuff when there is only room for one review a week. So once again I am forced to write two at once, not out of necessity, but out of conscience. They aren’t blockbusters, but they are must-see’s.
First up, The Wrestler. Meet Randy “The Ram” Robinson (Mickey Rourke in his finest hour), a pro-wrestler whose heyday was twenty years ago but is still going. This is what Rocky V should have been. Directed by Darren Aronofsky–the no-bull director of Pi, Requiem for a Dream and The Fountain – The Wrestler is as real, raw and heavy as pro-wrestling is not. Aronofsky takes us behind the scenes into the hidden world of pro-wrestling, a world where there is far less glitz and glory than the WWE would ever want us to see.
Living in New Jersey, The Ram has nothing to show for his earlier fame except a trailer that he barely makes rent on and an old van. His weekends are spent reliving the past by performing at minor league pro-wrestling venues, and his weekdays consist of asking for shifts at a local market. Despite his growing age and battered body, The Ram refuses to call it quits, dreaming of one day making it back to the big time. Unfortunately his quest has left him sad and alone, with little to comfort him aside from the neverending flow of “juice” he pumps into his body.
The Ram’s story is one from riches to rags, a story showing the brutal nature of a billion-dollar industry, and one where you can’t help but root for the sad but loveable underdog in life.
If The Wrestler had had any actor other than Rourke as the Ram, it would not have worked, period. End of story. Here is one of those rare performances that was made for one man, and the one man found his way into it. Rourke has more than a couple of parallels with the Ram, he knows what it is like to peak years ago, and now he has found his way back to the top.
Under the direction of the edgy Aronofsky, Rourke may have turned in the best performance of 2008. Of course, a great movie is not just made by one performance, and Rourke is supported by the ever-impressive Marisa Tomei as his hard-luck stripper girlfriend and by the gifted Evan Rachel Wood as his estranged daughter. Together they have pulled together a film, which will tug at more than a few heartstrings.
Though not to be outdone by Randy “The Ram’s underdog story, is arguably the biggest underdog film of the year Slumdog Millionaire. Set in the burgeoning modern-day India, Slumdog tells the story of Jamal Malik, an 18-year-old “slumdog” whose life has definitely been harder than yours. Of course, sometimes the suffering pays off, and right away we find that Jamal is only one question away from financially securing the rest of his life to the tune of 20-million-rupees on India’s hottest show Who Wants to be a Millionaire? Only thing is, Jamal (an amazing Dev Patel) is an uneducated kid from the ghetto who works as an assistant to telemarketers, and he is faring better than even the most educated ever have on the show, arousing serious suspicions about where his knowledge has come from. Arrested on suspicion of cheating, the police take Jamal in for questioning, yet find that the boy has no lies to tell. Instead he takes them, and us, through the story of his life, and what a story it is. Surviving poverty, abuse, and always on the move, Jamal has an experience for every question asked, showing that sometimes it is better to be lucky than good. As his story unfolds on the screen we see a story that is engrossing and tragic, beautiful, funny and dark, and it is hard to look away.
Slumdog Millionaire is a gem of a film. It surprised me as much as I have ever been surprised by a movie in the fact that it is so much more than I had expected. This movie is deep, and moving, and it is beautiful. Through everything Jamal goes through, he never loses hope in the pursuit of his love, and in the end it is that hope, that love which rewards him. Directed by Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later), Slumdog pulls no punches, is brilliantly shot, and moves back and forth between present and past in a way, which has never been done better. A long time favorite of the indie film world, this is Boyle’s masterpiece. Look for it to be there in the Best Picture spot come Oscar-time, it deserves it.
Slumdog Millionaire: 5/5
The Wrestler: 4/5
