Review
Acclaim for the Film
“Mickey Rourke plays the battered, broke, lonely hero, Randy ('The Ram') Robinson. This is the performance of his lifetime, will win him a nomination, may win him the Oscar.” ~Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
“The Wrestler is about the seductions of superficiality and the dull ache of living beyond one's moment. It stares with compassion at the man pinned on the mat and wonders how he'll ever get out of this one.” ~Ty Burr, Boston Globe
“Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler is one of the all-time exalted examples of an actor meeting a character and of each redeeming the other.” ~Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
“Director, Darren Aronofsky, and the writer, Robert D. Siegel, have turned the story of this washed-up faux gladiator into a film of authentic beauty and commanding consequence.” ~Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal
“Like Jack Palance in Requiem for a Heavyweight, the man you’re watching not only has the role of a lifetime; he seems to be living it, too. The result is the most brutally honest performance of the year.” ~Rex Reed, The New York Observer
“Mickey Rourke plays the battered, broke, lonely hero, Randy ('The Ram') Robinson. This is the performance of his lifetime, will win him a nomination, may win him the Oscar.” ~Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
“The Wrestler is about the seductions of superficiality and the dull ache of living beyond one's moment. It stares with compassion at the man pinned on the mat and wonders how he'll ever get out of this one.” ~Ty Burr, Boston Globe
“Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler is one of the all-time exalted examples of an actor meeting a character and of each redeeming the other.” ~Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
“Director, Darren Aronofsky, and the writer, Robert D. Siegel, have turned the story of this washed-up faux gladiator into a film of authentic beauty and commanding consequence.” ~Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal
“Like Jack Palance in Requiem for a Heavyweight, the man you’re watching not only has the role of a lifetime; he seems to be living it, too. The result is the most brutally honest performance of the year.” ~Rex Reed, The New York Observer
Product Description
Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler is an insightful behind-the-scenes meditation on the film’s provocative characters and the choices they make. Once a hugely successful WWF wrestler, Randy the Ram now ekes out a living performing for diehard wrestling fans from the 1980s in high school gyms and community centers around New Jersey. But when he suffers a heart attack, Randy’s doctor tells him he needs to lay off the steroids and stop wrestling altogether. Forced out of show business, Randy begins to evaluate the state of his life. But the pull of the spotlight is too strong and he attempts once again to find his way back into the ring. Featuring actors Mickey Rourke, Academy award–winning Marisa Tomei, and Evan Rachel Wood, this book is an extension of Aronofsky’s filmic vision, and will contain film stills, the original shooting script, still photos, original art, and observations by its creators, cast, and crew.
About the Author
Darren Aronofsky’s directorial debut ? won the Director’s Award at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival, an Independent Spirit award and the Open Palm. Aronofsky’s other films include Requiem for a Dream and The Fountain. Robert Siegel was editor-in-chief of the satirical newspaper The Onion from 1996 to 2003. He is now a full-time screenwriter.
