Rourke is fascinating. Like a car crash, you can't help but look.

After thinking about it for a long time, I've decided this is an incredibly intense, sometimes over the top, really excellent story that is acted very well, but that's not so enjoyable to watch. If you don't mind naked strippers and bloody stapled faces, you should see this. But expect to be depressed.

Ironic, intelligent, acted with a realism that move us, Mickey Rourke gets in with his charisma. It is much more than just a film of the fight, a film about human nature. Masterpiece.

This movie was beautiful from start to finish. The end was predicable but sometimes a cliche is most fitting for an ending. Rourke was incredible and hands down deserved Best Actor. Aronofsky totally justified his performance. Perfect one-two punch (er wait that's boxing). This movie was true to its very core and almost had me believing that I was watching a documentary at times. The Wrestler is one of the best movies to come out of 2008 and everyone should see it twice.

I love Mickey Rourke and as brutal as this film was; there was just so much to love.

An emotionally charged character piece that blew me away. I have rarely felt as emotionally connected to a character in a movie as I did with Randy "The Ram." Credit for that goes to Rourke for his amazing portrayal, Aronofsky for the immersive directing style and Siegel for the tragic story. I don't know a single person who can't relate to this in at least some way. It was definitely my favorite movie of 2008.

It's very good. Rourke gives an excellent performance, easily deserving of his nomination and a win. His scenes in the deli are amazing and show range I don't think we would have expected from him. That being said, the story is a little weak and the ending is really unfortunate (read: just plain bad) given the build up. Still, it's well worth watching.

The script is nothing special really. What really carries the movie is Mickey Rourke's performance. The man has a supernatural radiation throughout the movie.

2008's most exhilarating time at the movies.

That scene where he goes batshit in the deli was pretty cool.

After "the fountain" disaster, this movie is not only mickey rourke's but also aronofsky's comeback. Although it includes some hollywood cliche, rourke's performance is legendary enough to erase them from your mind. hope rourke to win every award possible...

The Wrestler (2008) is seriously a fucking good movie, and I fucking hate wrestling - so that says something. And, I really hate to do this, but I just didn't really think the ending was all that great. Basically, at the end of the movie, absolutely nothing is resolved. I get that it's kind of the point, but still... it felt kind of abrupt to me. I think I need to digest the movie more... maybe even re-watch it in a month or so.

Sometimes a movie's greatest strength is also its greatest weakest, in that the universe portrayed in the movie isn't a place I'd want to visit for how pessimistically authentic it feels. The movie scores on all the technicals, great directing, acting, script. I only wish there could have had a few more upbeat moments.

A testament to pain, indignity and masked despair. The documentary style over the shoulder camera and occasional score keep this intimate. Combined with the vulnerable amiability of Rourke, this provides a rawness and honesty that is mesmerising. Every blow, physical and emotional, is transferred to the viewer. Randy is slighted, humbled, degraded and so are we. The ending is our release. Aronofsky and Rourke made me empathise with and care about a wrestler FFS, that's an achievement.

Story is just okay, but Micky Rourke's makes it worthwhile.

Mickey Rourke delivers a remarkable flesh-and-blood performance in Darren Aronofsky's reserved, big-hearted drama. Rourke descends to the depths of despair and loneliness, showcasing a stripped down, gloss-less portrayal of a middle-aged man at the end of his career with no one to turn to when the spotlight fades. "The Wrestler" is an honest, powerful piece of work, and quite an achievement for its star who undoubtedly deserves a Best Actor Oscar in a film worthy of award recognition as well.

Mickey Rourke is really outstanding as a man whose excessive lifestyle is simultaneously his self destruction and his redemption. Even when it's no longer viable, he finds he has no other option but to give body and soul to his performance, as no other person will take them. Wrestling fans should get an extra level of appreciation out of this, as Aronofsky portrays the culture realistically and treats it with the respect so few give it.

It was a stroke of fortune if not of genius for filmmaker Aronofsky to cast Rourke in the title role. Rourke, monstrously bulked up since his stint of moonlighting as a professional prizefighter, has one of the most ravaged faces in the entire gallery of once beautiful leading men, somewhere between Jan-Michael Vincent and Francisco Rabal, and his noisy, labored breathing is excruciating.

The directing is good and Mickey Rourke excellent for the role. But the story was a bit too straight forewards and predictable and the theme was not that my kind of film.

waar was booker T?

Spare, minimalistic, and ultimately heartbreaking film that truly provides a performance for the ages. Mickey Rourke puts on a show with the best performance of the year, living inside "The Ram" and making the character his own. All other actors do a heck of a job as well, a large testament to Aronofsky's ability. He truly is one to watch, having produced three fantastic films thus far in his young career. A can't-miss movie that hits all the right notes and possibly the best of the year.

Very well done. Amazing performances all around. Aronofsky has this skill of taking audiences and making them feel any emotion he wants--he's really good at his job. Pretty fantastic film.

badass movie, too bad it doesn't avoid a bunch of cliches. the ending looks really cool, yet you know aronofsky is pandering to the audience

To start of, this movie is really awesome. This movie hits you right where it hurts. Leaves you heartbroken. Mickey Rourke's acting as Randy "The Ram" Robinson is just amazing. You feel both his physical and emotional pain in this movie. This movie is predictable but full credits to the director Aronofsky to keep you entwined in this movie. A must see, Mickey Rourke deserved an Oscar for this as did the movie.

Rourke does a great job with his character in this film. Wrestling seems to be all he has. It is like it has trapped his life. I just found it eye opening as Rourke faced so many tough decisions after a life-changing event. Decisions that I would think would be easy to make, but what I again learned is that it is hard to make those decisions when you have not walked in that characters shoes. This all came together to me during the final scenes of the film. Good stuff.

Aronofsky heads in the opposite direction from The Fountain, telling one stripped-down story that looks and feels real. It's his best film yet. Rourke and Tomei are both fantastic as bottom-rung performers leading messy lives, and the parallels and differences between them are drawn beautifully. Rourke gives a mammoth performance, hitting every note on the emotional scale. The film is surprisingly funny, and the WWE-style behind-the-back tracking camera documenting the mundane is a nice touch.

I loved Rourke and Tomei in this. They worked together so well.

Good performances. Some scenes were good, but others were just a little too clichéd and predictable. A little better than "Rocky Balboa," but not in the same class as something like "Fat City."