Andrew Grevas
For the 10 year anniversary of The Wrestler, I looked back on the film for Film Obsessive. I have the unique experience of working in the professional wrestling business for several years and also being a television and film critic which made this film special to me. I was excited to see it and all these years later, it remains very special to me.
For this essay, I did look at how well the film captured the dark side of the business, stories that for many years simply weren’t told. Today, they are through documentaries, podcasts and television shows but when this film came out, these stories only existed in the shadows, the way the wrestling business wanted them too.
The Wrestler remains a powerful film with top notch performances from Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei. It’s daring, heartbreaking, funny at times but perhaps most importantly, true to the life. Darren Aronofsky took a risk telling this story with his career at it’s arguable peak and he delivered a home run, perhaps to everyone but those who were expecting a modern day Rocky.
This essay is a personal favorite of mine and I have a lot to say about it. You can read the full essay at this link here.
