"The Wrestler": Aronofsky's best and least-unenjoyable movie
Last week I saw "The Wrestler." How could I not see this movie? It's about pro wrestling, it features strippers, and it's in Jersey. It's as good as people are saying it is. Mickey Rourke is as good as people are saying he is.
But I didn't enjoy it. Why? Because Darren Aronofsky doesn't make enjoyable films.
I have seen every Darren Aronofsky movie since "Pi" came out 10 years ago. Does he ever make an enjoyable movie? Why is he so intent on smothering all hope, extinguishing any idea of a happy ending? He made a movie called "Requiem for a Dream," for chrissakes. I found "Requiem" insufferable, and we remember my haiku for "The Fountain," along with the following review from that time:
This movie is visually stunning with beautiful music by Kronos Quartet filtered through Mogwai (expect amp distortion!). But if only the movie gave us reasons to care about Spanish conquistador/psycho doctor/shaved-head spaceman Hugh Jackman and his Queen Isabella of Spain/cancer wife/sex tree (yes, I said "sex tree") Rachel Weisz. That, and Aronofsky's idea of drama is to just show you extreme closeups of Wolverine crying giant tears shooting out of his eyeballs for more than half the film.
Don't believe me? Well, eat this, his worst crime of all: Dude gives us pretty women, then shits all over them. You'll see Jennifer Connelly full-frontal nudity, but she's also on heroin. Rachel Weisz has sex in a tub, then she's dying of cancer. And you'll see Marisa Tomei naked, but covered in tattoos, caked-on makeup and big Jersey hair as a past-her-prime stripper.
"The Wrestler" gives us the most enjoyable stuff you'll ever get in an Aronofsky movie. Much of this is how New Jersey this movie is. From Rourke's character working at the Acme, to the trailer park, to Tomei's voice, to the crowds chanting "You still suck dick!" this movie drips with Dirty Jerz - as it should, because pro wrestling is alive in Jersey. It never left.
You'd think the wrestling would be enjoyable, but it's wrenching, dangerous and menacing. You always think something terrible's around the corner for the entire movie - and Aronofsky doesn't disappoint.
The most interesting thing for me in "The Wrestler" is the commentary on wrestling and stripping as fellow jobs in the meat trade. Aronofsky draws many parallels between Rourke and Tomei's characters, a wrestler and a stripper. Both jobs glorify unreal bodies; both are revered and looked down upon by their audiences; both jobs will leave the aging behind for the sleek, new and sexy; both jobs most folks don't walk away from, because the real world won't accept them. The scenes where Rourke is busy tanning and getting his hair dyed, where he is recognized offstage when he doesn't want to be, or tries to hide his real name - they easily could have been Tomei's.
But I didn't enjoy it. Why? Because Darren Aronofsky doesn't make enjoyable films.
I have seen every Darren Aronofsky movie since "Pi" came out 10 years ago. Does he ever make an enjoyable movie? Why is he so intent on smothering all hope, extinguishing any idea of a happy ending? He made a movie called "Requiem for a Dream," for chrissakes. I found "Requiem" insufferable, and we remember my haiku for "The Fountain," along with the following review from that time:
This movie is visually stunning with beautiful music by Kronos Quartet filtered through Mogwai (expect amp distortion!). But if only the movie gave us reasons to care about Spanish conquistador/psycho doctor/shaved-head spaceman Hugh Jackman and his Queen Isabella of Spain/cancer wife/sex tree (yes, I said "sex tree") Rachel Weisz. That, and Aronofsky's idea of drama is to just show you extreme closeups of Wolverine crying giant tears shooting out of his eyeballs for more than half the film.
Don't believe me? Well, eat this, his worst crime of all: Dude gives us pretty women, then shits all over them. You'll see Jennifer Connelly full-frontal nudity, but she's also on heroin. Rachel Weisz has sex in a tub, then she's dying of cancer. And you'll see Marisa Tomei naked, but covered in tattoos, caked-on makeup and big Jersey hair as a past-her-prime stripper.
"The Wrestler" gives us the most enjoyable stuff you'll ever get in an Aronofsky movie. Much of this is how New Jersey this movie is. From Rourke's character working at the Acme, to the trailer park, to Tomei's voice, to the crowds chanting "You still suck dick!" this movie drips with Dirty Jerz - as it should, because pro wrestling is alive in Jersey. It never left.
You'd think the wrestling would be enjoyable, but it's wrenching, dangerous and menacing. You always think something terrible's around the corner for the entire movie - and Aronofsky doesn't disappoint.
The most interesting thing for me in "The Wrestler" is the commentary on wrestling and stripping as fellow jobs in the meat trade. Aronofsky draws many parallels between Rourke and Tomei's characters, a wrestler and a stripper. Both jobs glorify unreal bodies; both are revered and looked down upon by their audiences; both jobs will leave the aging behind for the sleek, new and sexy; both jobs most folks don't walk away from, because the real world won't accept them. The scenes where Rourke is busy tanning and getting his hair dyed, where he is recognized offstage when he doesn't want to be, or tries to hide his real name - they easily could have been Tomei's.