The Wrestler

I'll go ahead and get it out of the way.  I used to love pro wrestling.  I can think back and remember matches that changed my life as a kid.  I remember begging my parents to let me order a pay-per-view because I was worried Mankind was going to kill Shawn Michaels (my favorite wrestler).  I remember sitting around at school the next day listening to a kid tell me what happened in detail in every match because his dad ordered it.

So it was no surprise that when a movie about a washed up professional wrestler was released I wanted to go.  The fact that the reviews were as good as they were was just a bonus.  I have never seen Ready to Rumble... just for the record.

Mickey Rourke plays Randy "The Ram," an extremely popular wrestler from the 1980s who is now wrestling in small companies to make enough money to pay the rent.  After a particularly brutal match, he has a heart attack and has to change his life.

The Wrestler is an absolutely amazing movie.  It is a movie that I have processed in my mind over and over.  One of the few movies that has ever left me completely engrossed for a day or two afterward.  I found myself thinking about the movie the next day and looking at it from all the different angles.  I highly recommend it even if you aren't a fan of wrestling.