Today Wednesday runs on at 20:15 pm the absolutely brilliant film “The Wrestler” with Mickey Rourke in the leading role. A fascinating loser ballad in which Rourke creates an electrifying, humorous and deeply moving portrait and the story is told simply and brilliantly. “The Wrestler” is difficult to enjoy and not for the faint of heart.
Mickey Rourke is more or less playing his own career here. Rourke was a not unattractive actor at the beginning of the eighties, who occupied the role that Bruce Willis would later take on. But then Rourke's success went to his head. He played the diva, turned down roles in “The Untouchables”, “Platoon”, “The Silence of the Lambs”, surrounded himself with a gang of thugs, drank his money with the Hell's Angels and went through a drug hell with his wife Carré Otis until they left him in 1998. At 38, Rourke ventured a second, short career as a boxer under the name “El Marielto”. The scars on his face still tell about it today. And he was sure that the film career would be over forever. “Basically,” he once stated, “I was long dead.” The film is a fascinating and depressing portrait of a broken man at the same time. The main character's strength of will alone is so stirring that all other problems would be blown away if this energy could only be directed in the right direction. A thought-provoking memorial as a testimony to a failed existence in its probably last twitching. The character of Randy Robinson is a role model for everyone whose life has gotten a little out of hand at one point or another. His iron-hard will to achieve what he has set out to do, regardless of whether this project makes sense or not, is so fascinating that all other negative and sometimes depressing aspects take a back seat. The film is a shining example of human willpower in the face of all adverse circumstances.
Randy "The Ram" Robinson was one of the superstars of American wrestling in the 80s. But 20 years into its golden age, numerous fights and steroid abuse have left their mark. His bleached hair hardly covers the hearing aid, his wife has left him and he has not seen his daughter for years. Despite the physical exertion, he keeps getting into the ring and is cheered by loyal fans. But the shows in small school gyms are badly paid and he can barely pay the rental space for his shabby caravan, which is why he has to take a job in the supermarket. After a particularly bloody fight, he collapses from a heart attack and is transported to the hospital. There a doctor advises him to stop wrestling, as another ring could cost him his life. Randy seems to accept this with a heavy heart at first. He wants to rearrange his life. With the support of the stripper Cassidy, he gets back in touch with his daughter Stephanie, who, after initially being rejected, slowly lets him participate in her life again. He also begins to develop feelings for Cassidy, but she rejects him because the job makes relationships with customers impossible for her. His old life, consisting of wrestling events, parties and drugs, threatens to regain the upper hand. His need for fame and the attraction of the ring keep him going and so it comes as it has to come ...