First up, let’s talk about Darren Aronofsky deciding to back out of directing The Wolverine. I’ll admit, I’m pissed. When news broke, I definitely felt the sting. As a short hairy Canadian myself, I was rather displeased with my countryman’s first solo film, as it didn’t seem to know its head from its ass. The prospect of Aronofsky coming in to direct the sequel was certainly appealing. The fact that 20th Century Fox was actually going to film in Japan for a year was also encouraging, as the studio’s been accused of being real cheapskates when it comes to some of these films. But between the devastation in that country and news of Aronofsky’s departure, it didn’t take long for fans to go into full-on nerd rage, and blame Fox for everything. Seriously, to read some of the comments online, it’s like the fans blame Fox for the tsunami and earthquakes. They’re going scorched-earth on those movie executives, once again falling back on the whole “FOX sucks at everything” rhetoric that I just feel is getting old.

I’ll give points to Fox just for considering Aronofsky in the first place. And while the likelihood of them replacing him with a less talented director is certainly high, why is it completely unfathomable that the replacement might end up being someone with a solid enough track record to make a good movie? Why is it so unfathomable that Fox might not be the great evil we all liked to think they were back in the early to mid 2000s? For all this talk about the directors who won’t work with them ever again, or gave up filmmaking because of them, what about all the decisions they made that would imply some acknowledgment of the fan disapproval they’ve dealt with in the past few years? Putting out Machete despite Grindhouse’s commercial under-performance back in ’08, looking at the clusterfuck they created with the Alien vs. Predator movies, and deciding to focus on rebuilding those franchises individually; Predators was an admirable follow-up to the original, and Ridley Scott is back to direct Prometheus, taking place within the Alien universe.

I’m not saying you can’t hate 20th Century Fox, but it’s the blind hatred to the point where anyone with a different opinion is accused of being a plant for Fox or just won’t accept the truth as y’all see it, it just becomes annoying to talk to some of you folks. When you won’t even allow for the slightest possibility of anything other than Fox just going out of their way to make a movie terrible, when you can’t even wait for a new director to be announced before declaring, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the movie will suck, it’s just a whole lotta bitchin’ to me!

Surprisingly though, I think there’s actually more bitchin’ going on in regards the to Wonder Woman costume for the upcoming NBC series. To be fair, there’s a lot about this show that sounds profoundly stupid. As for the costume itself, there are a lot of comments about it looking cheap, it actually makes Wonder Woman look trashier than if she had no pants!, blah, blah, blah, yakckety-schmackety! Honestly, were the pants a darker shade of blue, and the boots red, I’d have zero problem with the costume. It’s immediately recognizable as Wonder Woman, I’m sure there’s a budgetary concern with the material and however many duplicates of the costume they’ll have to produce for both actress and whoever her stunt double is (you know, the shit I doubt half the fanboys even consider), and I’ve changed my opinion on many a costume I originally thought to be atrocious when presented in a similar context as this new WW costume (strong lighting and a stark white background), that ended up looking decent when filmed under the right circumstances.

I think the biggest problem with Wonder Woman is that quite honestly, it took a long time for the character to become what she is in the comics today. I’d say it took her a good 30 to 40 years before she became a character worth taking seriously (**cuts hand and gleefully dangles it in shark-infested water**). And while a lot of fans are still mad that a full-on movie hasn’t gotten off the ground yet, there’s still that stigma of not wanting a female to headline a major action film, it rarely pans out. I’d love to see it happen, but it often doesn’t. We’re gonna need more than one significant action/adventure hit, not based on a pre-existing property, starring a female, before Warner Bros. even tries to put out a Wonder Woman movie. And if the series is as bad as most are convinced it’ll be . . . . y’all will watch that shit every week, until it’s canceled, just to bitch about it, anyway!!!

The life of a professional wrestler can often be a sad and lonely one, a career where countless dues are paid for a chance of stardom, and after the glitz is gone, can be a retirement of pain and loneliness. But for Randy “The Ram” Robinson (Mickey Rourke), it’s all he knows. At the height of his fame, he forged a rivalry with “Ayatollah” (an Iron Sheik nod), and there was a chance of a rematch some 20 years later, but like all athletes, eventually the body fails you and he has a heart attack in the locker room. The one thing he knows best, taken away from him. His free time is endless now, so he asks his part-time job to see if they can get him something with more hours; which brings him to behind the deli counter.

His solitude often brings him to a local strip joint, there he is a frequent customer of “Cassidy” (Marisa Tomei). She understands him, listens to him, pays attention to the details of his life, but is she really this understanding, or is is part of her performance. She has a personal code of not mixing work with pleasure. Now that he’s sidelined for good, Cassidy suggests Randy spend quality time with his estranged daughter, Stephanie (Ever Rachel Wood) who he walked out on when she was young. Even though he’s as big as a bear, his heart is made of glass – shattered, fragmented in so many pieces and with his second chance on life, he aims to make good on it and do his best to start a new life, a new career, and begin to repair what he had so often broken. But this is no Disney movie, this is the story of Randy “The Ram” Robinson and he’s far from being perfect and you know he’s going to fuck it all up-badly. As much as you want it to work out for him you know it won’t. So he risks his life and turns to the one thing that’s always been there: The Square Ring.

Director Darren Aronofsky comes back with a force with The Wrestler, a gritty look into one performer in one big circus and the pain that that life has brought him. Inspired by real professional wrestlers who scrounge small gyms and arenas for a few measly hundred bucks, punishing their bodies with no health insurance, no pension, and no guarantee they’re going to get out of bed the next morning. Sure there’s acting involved, but the physical ballet and gaudy spectacle of professional wrestling often hides the real men and women playing the roles as well as the physical and mental sacrifices they make.

Eerily chosen for the role was Rourke, whose own career had risen and fallen, much to his own management and yet, he delivers the comeback story of 2008-2009. You cannot take your eyes off him, okay, well except for when the equally accomplished Tomei is on the screen, who just seems to get easier on the eyes and more impressive of an actor with age. They both portray people who understand each other’s desire to have all eyes on them, that they are in the business of performing, and they are two people who know the songs by Ratt, Scorpion, and Cinderella aren’t songs exclusive to Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80′s. They’re just two people who can’t escape their profession enough to enjoy their real lives.

I walk away after seeing The Wrestler respecting the men and women who step in the ring, and knowing how fleeting the success of a entertainer can be whether it be an athlete, a singer, or and actor. But what grabbed me was the story of the underdog, to see a man with a big heart try his damnedest to fix his broken life and a man who is trying to win you over; who is fighting not to be forgotten.

Video: B
The picture is gritty and grainy but Aronofsky and company purposely shot it this way though so there’s no reason to be up in arms about it. Still it boasts a 1080p high definition transfer at 2.35:1 ratio and maintains Arnofsky’s vision of the film. The color palette reproduces well from the drab and dull world outside the ring to the garish spectacle inside the ring with neon outfits, and the harsh lighting. Those bright colors hold up throughout the high speed action of the wrestling. Skin tones look a little on the pink side but otherwise are fairly accurate and shadows appear right for correct depth perception. It isn’t reference material, nor was it meant to be.

Audio: A-
It’s a small film, yes, but there’s plenty of opportunity for The Wrestler to shine in a home theater. First of all the driving sounds of 80′s Rock whether it’s Quiet Riot or Guns N’ Roses, hard driving guitars and drums ring out all around you from the get-go in the English 5.1 DTS-HD soundtrack. It will pump you up, get the juices flowing, and during the matches, the crowd noise swirls around you, the chanting the shouting, pan around in a very fun way. Dynamic range is excellent as scenes switch from those scenes where the Ram is by himself in his trailer or shooting up drugs in the locker room where all you hear is the buzzing of the lights, to the raucous scenes in the arena. Clint Mansell’s subdued score (with guitars by Slash) is mixed to get that emotional tug at your heart but not pull attention to itself. A Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital track is also included and English Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and Spanish are available.

Extras: B-
Highlighted by a solid Making-Of special, and a hard-hitting round table discussion with WWF legends (which is a great idea), Arnofsky has been known to put a better effort with his home releases. This release is sorely missing a commentary track but other than those two joints, there’s not much to smoke on here.

Within The Ring SD (42:43) – In this behind-the-scenes special, Aronofsky along with some of the crew walk you through some of the important aspects, the locations, the composition of the score in a nice comprehensive making of although in some areas you’d like the piece to go a bit further. I do favor these types of featurettes instead of the five to ten vignettes that last 5-10 minutes each to mask the quality with quantity. In Aronofsky’s second film, Requiem for a Dream, a similar making-of was made and I think that familiarity is good here. Make sure to stay through the credits though to see the crew partake in some stunt diving out of the ring on the last day of principal shooting.

Wrestler Round Table SD (25:23) – Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake, Lex Luger, “Diamond” Dallas Page, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, and Greg “The Hammer” Valentine are interviewed after seeing the film to get their reactions, how true the story was to their lives, dispelling misconceptions and the emotional and anguish life outside the ring. After watching the wrestler you think one of the first reactions is how much of this is inspired by true life. Surprisingly, a lot of it is.

The Wrestler Music Video-Written and performed by Bruce Springsteen SD (3:59)- Given that there were three songs (two in Slumdog Millionaire) I am shocked that this song was not nominated for an Oscar. One of the Boss’ finest original songs for a film in his long and storied career.

Trailers for Wolverine:Origins, Slumdog Millionaire, Notorius, and Bruce Springsteen’s new CD.

Overall Shock Value: B+
The Wrestler is a tug of war between the rush of entertaining and the slow, painful burn of the crash away from the stage. Rourke’s performance in Sin City showed he has a much larger stage presence if given the chance. And now that chance has come. No matter what Rourke does from here (he’s slated for 8 films in 2010, including Iron Man 2), I think people will always go to The Wrestler for not only a defining role, but for a glimpse inside the man himself. It’s his vulnerability as Randy Robinson, not The Ram that will leave the lasting impression and Rourke leaves it all on the mat. Because like “professional” wrestling, The Wrestler is not all acting.

Ernie Estrella