"I'm Here... I'm really here"

I caught up with Darren Aronofsky's "The Wrestler" the other day, a film criminally underrated during its run in the 2008 awards season. I had forgotten what a tour-de-force this film was for everyone involved. It was unlike anything Darren Aronofsky had done in his career thus far, proving he was capable of much more than the "triply drug movie director" people took him to be after Requiem For A Dream. The Wrestler is a much subtler piece of art; it's simply a character study about a past his prime wrestler played by Mickey Rourke.

Rourke's character, Randy "The Ram" Robinson isn't too far off from Rourke's own Hollywood persona. Before the film came out, many had Rourke pinned as a has-been, and a washed up actor who had his 15 minutes. In the film, just about everyone is ready to give up on The Ram. To say Rourke was simply "inspired casting" is underplaying the magic of The Wrestler, as the art truly reflected Rourke's life on the screen.

Throughout the film, Randy struggles to get his life together after a near fatal heart attack takes him out of the ring; wrestling is taking too much of a toll on his body. The heart attack leaves him isolated, as he has nobody in his life. His estranged daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) wants nothing to do with him, and his love interest, a stripper named Cassidy (Marissa Tomei, giving her best performance) is clearly attracted to him, but can't commit to him as she has a child she needs to support. After being rebuffed by the women in his life, and rejected from the part time job he picks up to cover the financial hole left by him leaving wrestling behind, Randy decides to jump back in the ring. He knows that it could kill him, but he doesn't know anything else besides wrestling; the ring is the only place in the world where Randy feels he's beloved.

In a moment of clarity, Cassidy realizes she needs to be there for Randy. She comes to his match, catching him before he goes out to the ring. In what remains the most heartbreaking, and poignant scene in the film, she tells him "I'm here... I'm really here"

But it's too late. Randy has been rejected by his only daughter, the love in in his life, and the rest of the world. The only people that truly "love" him, are his die hard fans. "This is where I belong" he says, pointing out to the audience. "Sweet Child of Mine" beings playing, and the screams of the audience intensifies. He walks out, knowing it's his swan song.

The scene where Cassidy and Randy reconcile is heartbreaking because no matter how much they want to make it work, they can't, despite their best efforts. Wrestling is the only thing Randy truly ever had, despite a brief rekindled relationship with his daughter, and the ignition of a possible romance with Cassidy. Aronofsky's camera follows Randy through every waking moment, filming him through an unbiased lens. He allows Rourke the ability to simply be, and act. It was a performance that should have won him the Best Actor trophy in 2009's Oscar ceremony. Ultimately, the award went to Sean Penn.

It wouldn't be so heartbreaking, had the role not rang so poetically true to Rourke's own experiences. You can tell in his reconciliation with Cassidy, that it was a conversation he was familiar with having. After being chewed up, and spit out multiple times by the people he loved and cared about, he just couldn't risk being hurt again. Tomei and Rourke laid their bodies bare (literally) for their roles; it's raw to the bone acting that isn't given onscreen all too often, but it never rings as true as it does in this scene.

We never truly know what ends up happening to Randy in the final scene of the film. In true Aronofsky fashion, the ending is ambiguous. The final shot is of Randy performing his famous "Ram Jam" move, flying across the ring as he lands onto his opponent, pinning him. Though we hear Randy's heartbeat, implying this move could be his final one, we also see him flying, set to the crowd's joyful cries of "RAM! RAM! RAM JAM!" In this moment, Randy is free, he's flying away from the (literal and figurative) heartbreak; he's where he really belongs after all.