Comments on: Review: The Wrestler

By: Gary Graham

Gary Graham — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 21:05:44 +0000

yeah, I agree with you. Finally saw The Wrestler…and whereas I enjoyed it, and love Rourke in it, I thought the ending was cliche-enigmatic…and the address to the crowd was to much exposition that betrayed the up-til-then tragi-comedy of the piece. But I still dug it.

By: Paul hksug

Paul hksug — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 18:20:27 +0000

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By: Big Hollywood » Blog Archive » TCM Pick O’ The Day: Sunday, January 18th

Sat, 17 Jan 2009 23:48:08 +0000

[...] of the ”Wrestler” review readers responded to my complaint about that film’s climax with, ”[t]he hokey ending [...]

By: polly

polly — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 03:12:02 +0000

The ending was fitting in that Randy was already a dead man.
With his only hope for salvation arriving too late to save him he died doing the only thing that brought him happiness.

By: Sean

Sean — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 09:07:18 +0000

A careerm, if chosen correctly, will allow a person to explore all those possibilities of strength, ability and talent within them. “Randy” acheived his dreams in life and somewhere along the line didn’t notice that it was time to change and grow into a new phase, a new direction and the physical constraints and emotional rewards of wrestling weren’t paying off. But he never got off that bus. When he finally does, it seems like its way past too late. But of course, we all know that it’s not.

For myself, I do agree that Randy deserved a better ending. I deserved it for watching and making a true emotional investment in the character and his problems. What Hollywood doesn’t get is that a good ending doesn’t have to be artsy or bs metaphysical. It also doesn’t have to be perfect. But like Mickey Rourke, and Randy, I like to see the fallen hero win on occassion.

The film is what it is and I’m not after tampering with content. I liked it a lot. But I could have used a conclusion. And one without the death doing what you love bit.

By: JT

JT — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 21:10:22 +0000

Ravishing Rick Rude. “Mr. Perfect” Curt Hennig. Andre the Giant. Yokozuna. Dino Bravo. Owen Hart. “British Bulldog” Davey Boy Smith. Brian Pillman. Eddie Guerrero. Louis Spiccoli. Chris Benoit. Renegade. Maddog Mike Bell. Most of the Von Erich family. They’re all dead.

I thought this movie was inspired by the story of Jake “The Snake” Roberts. Either way, Mickey Rourke gave a very powerful performance.

By: LionDude

LionDude — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 20:16:32 +0000

SPOILERS BELOW, FOLKS.

Mr. Nolte, my opinion exactly on the inclusion of the Ram’s speech before his rematch with the “Ayatollah”. Watching Randy throughout the entire film up to this moment made it completely unneccessary for him to have to “explain” himself. We already know why he’s back in the ring. Unless Randy did this for the fans in attendance at the match, but we were never given any sort of hint that there was a huge disappointment that he had retired. There were no persistent, pesky calls from his promoter. Then again, the dude did have to use a pay phone. His sign-and-greet showed no fans pleading for him to get back in the ring. Again, it just seemed his explanation was too much “in case you missed the entire movie, here’s why I’m back”. Good film, though.

By: Pancyto Ma

Pancyto Ma — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 20:15:17 +0000

I have 1 huge problem with this critique – and that is the the ending. Apparently, the author knows very little about wrestling or the ill-fated careers of wrestlers. [spoiler alert] They live hard and die hard, the list of prematurely dead wrestlers is scary long. That is why this ending is not only poignant but absolutely, resolutely perfect, because this movie is about the reality of wrestling.

By: Farmer_Joe

Farmer_Joe — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 19:04:46 +0000

I can’t believe no one’s brought up the real life parallels with Jake “The Snake” Roberts, as documented in “Beyond the Mat”.

By: Joe Melnick

Joe Melnick — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 17:33:08 +0000

I have a completely different take on the ending than John – I found it bleak and depressing, which fit perfectly with the rest of the film. He gives up a shot at a somewhat normal life with Marisa Tomei for another shot at his faded glory.

As for the father-daughter part, I don’t see that it was particularly lame – it seemed a pretty black and white issue for her that her dad took off and is continuing to selfishly screw with her emotions.

The hokey ending would have been him quitting and setting off on a new life with Tomei and reconnecting with his daughter. This ending shows he’s going to continue debasing himself and eventually die alone, sooner rather than later. In other words, it’s the feel-good hit of the winter.