Movie Review: The Wreslter

The short of it: 5 out of 8 Nations

The long of it: Full disclosure - every one pretty much knows I'm a long time pro wrestling fan. Have been since I was maybe 4 or 5 years old, watching it with my Uncle. Do I watch it as regularly as I used to? Nope - mostly because I find the story lines not as interesting as before; but thanks to the internet I still keep track of what's going on, as well as a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff.

Having said that, this was a pretty damn good movie,folks, pro wrestling fan or not. Yes, there was great satisfaction in seeing a movie treat pro wrestling very seriously (unlike say, Ready To Rumble; and Beyond The Mat and Wrestling With Shadows were documentaries so those don't count). It was pretty cool also to see them show wrestlers backstage going over spots and blading (even though it should have been done faster than it was shown). I'm glad the movie - to use a pro wrestling term here - decided to break kayfabe.

But this was not a movie about pro wrestling; it was a movie about a pro wrestler - Randy "The Ram" Robinson, as played by Mickey Rourke. And what a performance it was, folks. Yes, the allegories between The Ram and Rourke's careers have been pounded to death, but even if you put that in the back of your mind, this was still a performance for the ages.

Watch this if you get the chance, folks.