THE WRESTLER (2008) - ♦♦♦♦♦

Directed by - Darren Aronofsky

Written by - Robert D. Siegel

Starring - Mickey Rourke

"Aronofsky distances himself from his more stylistically eccentric style in this compelling drama about an aged wrestler whose world of sports entertainment, though not as glamorous as it once was in his heyday, is all he seems to be able to crave. With an intimate cinematography, exploring the drama of a man in an anti-Rocky film of this generation, with Mickey Rourke’s best performance to date, this is a wonderful study of a man who has dedicated his life for the one thing he loved, entertaining crowds, even at the price of a scarred body and a messed up life, with a seemingly irreparable relationship with his daughter, and a loneliness that is only remotely cured by his one true friend, a single mother who works as a stripper.

Though not as stylishly complex as other Aronofsky films, this is arguably the one that most gets his pet themes messages of addiction and eternal struggle across."

Drama, USA/France