The Wrestler.

            I don’t know if I would categorize this as low budget or production, but it has been pretty much unheard through the media.  The movie slash documentary “The Wrestler” brings out the lifestyle surrounding a professional wrestler from the 1980’s looking to make a comeback following his prime.  This film has been put out in limited locations, which has not allowed it to fully blow up onto the mainstream screen.

                The overall grungy feel and the reality that surrounds Randy “The Ram” in the film serve to create a genuine wrestling movie.  The side-job, the family troubles, the drugs, the rock and roll music, the pain, and the strip club getaway are all elements that serve to the real life setting.  Also, the feeling that wrestling is fake is definitely exposed in this movie as they chat about upcoming fights, but the after pain and anguish makes its extreme in sport.  The grungy feel is something to relate to as well; the popularity around wrestling during this created time was very high as the best were famous and public figures and heroes such as, Hulk Hogan and Brett Hart during that time period.

            When his life seem to crash around him Mickey Rourke’s figure as Randy looks to piece his life together and stick to wrestling because it’s the thing that has made him.  Wrestling was his life as many of those during the 1990’s as they were up there for many children viewers as sports idols and others.  “The Wrestler” solidly picks at the ups and downs to suffering wrestling career and documents it in a way that has been yet to see since now.  This is a film that is suited to those heavy fans during the eighties and nineties, but the authenticity of the film can be respected by many more than just wrestling fans.  “The Wrestler” is a prime example of a low budget film that has struggled out of that point, but with a growing crowd of viewers and with the message out, this is a very well made movie.