Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler is Gonna Be Awesome

The Wrestler is the movie that my roommate Caleb and I have been wanting to make all our lives.

Starting in about the fourth grade, we both become obsessed with professional wrestling. And I mean obsessed. I remember getting offended whenever someone ever tried to convince me that wrestling was fake or insisted that being apart of the NWO was awesome (since they were the heels at the time, I was against them in every way). For me, it started off by renting old WWE and WCW Pay-Per-View VHS tapes at my local video store. After that, I began watching WCW Monday Night Nitro on TNT religiously. As the years went by, I slowly made the transition to watching WWE Raw on USA and staying up past my bed-time on Monday nights just to finish the show. 

Sooner than later, we formed our own backyard wrestling organization and began holding matches on the trampoline in my front yard. We had our own theme music and even filmed some of the matches. My finishing move was the DDT.

Everyday, I would post on wrestling forums and would read the latest wrestling news.

I was obsessed.

So you can understand why I would be pumped about Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain) making a realistic film about professional wrestling and how the system really works. Sure, Beyond the Mat was awesome and all, but you can't beat a feature film by Aronofsky starring Mickey Rourke as a washed-up wrestler trying to make a comeback while also dealing with the threat of his heart giving out in the process.

Well, it turns out that I was in the right for getting pumped about this movie because it premiered at the Venice Film Festival this past week and the reception was incredibly positive. In fact, the movie was so good that it won The Golden Lion, which is the top award for the Venice Film Festival. Right now, there is major buzz for not only Aronofsky's direction but Mickey Rourke's performance (which many reviewers are calling Oscar worthy). 

Personally, I hope it turns out that way. I've been a big fan of Rourke ever since he began his comeback into film with Sin City (and, after looking into his older films, Angel Heart has become a favorite of mine). It'd be great to see that comeback actually include an Oscar win. It'd also be great to see Aronofsky get some gold himself, especially after the ridiculous critical backlash that he got for The Fountain (which is probably one of the best movies I've seen). 

So, overall, it looks like this thing is going to be insanely good. I cannot tell you how pumped I am about it. Aronofsky is finally gonna put all those wrestling nay sayers in their place with this film. Sure, they have scripts and the outcome of the match is planned but the wrestlers still take an insane amount of abuse. I think it's about time that that lifestyle got portrayed properly in film.

Let's face it- this could be the Raging Bull of wrestling. 

Source: /Film