The Wrestler

There's been a lot said about this film and, depending upon what side you fall on, it being snubbed for the most part by the Academy or overhyped by the media. As someone who grew up watching wrestling and guys just like Mickey Rourke's Randy "The Ram" Robinson, I have to admit I was eagerly looking forward to finally seeing this film. It is, as has been discussed, as tailor-made a role for Rourke as there could ever be and he is, for me at least, brilliant in his portrayal.

Growing up in the South, where Ric Flair and Richard Petty were as much sporting idols as Walter Payton and Michael Jordan, it's easier to have an understanding of the wrestling business beyond its more modern "sports entertainment" incarnation. I've also been lucky enough to know people involved in promotions similar to the independent shows "the Ram" is relegated to as a main plot vehicle of the film. The appearance of wrestlers mainly affiliated with RoH (Ring of Honor) is also a nice touch by director Darren Aronofsky and those responsible for casting.

Marisa Tomei is also amazing as Cassidy who is essentially the female foil to Robinson. A lot has been made of her role as a stripper but more than anything else she is every bit Rourke's equal. As advertised, both characters are struggling with largely the same dilemma - finding themselves when who they want to be is 20 years in the past. It's Springsteen's "Glory Days" in a near 2 hour film. Speaking of which, it's only apropos that they somehow managed to get the "Boss" to pen a song for "the Ram".

That said, the charm of the movie lies in the real story here told through people living norma lives as unreal characters. Most of us will never drop and elbow from the top rope or have a $20 bill shoved into our underwear in front of crowds in public. However, who amongst us, especially over the age of 30, doesn't yearn for one more shot at something that made us feel so alive in the past? You can tell yourself that you don't but, in my opinion, it's definitely there deep down in all of us.

The scenes involving Randy's interactions with his dwindling fans, Cassidy, other wrestlers, and ultimately, his daughter exhibit the true narrative into stark contrast with the minimal in-ring footage. Sometimes life is about reconciling your past with your present as you constantly move into the future. That.... that is the story of this film not headlocks, steroids, chairshots, full frontal nudity or the cheers and jeers of the crowd.

4.75 elbows to the heart out of 5

Clearing out some Netflix - Episode 3: Breach

Chris Cooper as a shadowy FBI agent who must be taken down? Say it ain't so! Some actors are typecast for a reason, I guess, and there are few actors out there who play this type of role as well as he does but it's still funny to see him in essentially the same role over and over again. Ryan Philippe plays a mole trying to catch Cooper in this dramatized version of the Robert Hanssen case. I might add that he plays the role fairly well, definitely stronger than I imagined when I saw his name on the credits.

For some reason, stylistically this thing felt a lot like one of the better episodes of the West Wing or something throughout. Laura Linney is quite capable in her role as a handler for Philippe and plays very well off of him in their scenes together. Sometimes she's a little heavy-handed but for some reason I think she has this tendency in most of her roles. Dennis Haysbert also appears as one of Linney's colleagues on the investigative side of the operation.

A lot of the twists and turns in the story are a bit embellished but that's why this is a "dramatization" of events. At any rate, as far as an adaptation of the true story of one of the most infamous cases of a breach in U.S. intelligence goes this is an interesting film. It keeps the attention even if, in my opinion, it doesn't delve deep enough into what Hanssen actually did.

3 Cloak-and-Daggers out of 5

Clearing out some Netflix - Episode 2: Manufacturing Dissent

A documentary that takes a critical look at Michael Moore's films with a particularly strong look at his personal background as well as his films. The main juxtaposition here is that this film tries to play a straight documentary about someone who may or may not make straight documentary films.

There are a lot of things I don't like about Moore or his tactics. However, that said, I think his contribution to the discourse is important on a level on getting people to think about certain issues. I'll leave a lot of the questions about him, raised in the film and elsewhere, to those sources. Instead, I'll try to focus on discussing the merits of this particular documentary.

One of the striking things about this film is that one has to question some of the tone from the filmmakers who continue to be snubbed throughout and provide an ever increasingly snarky tone as it goes on. That said, they make good points on both sides about known incidences of fabrications and errors in his films as well as some form of laudatory comments about his raising the profile of the documentary as a viable film genre.

In the end, this documentary executes and employs several of the same tactics that they criticize Moore for using. However, my skepticism says that this film is still worth having a look at if only to get a little further information on Moore, his methods, impact on documentary film-making, and much of what that entails.

3 TV Nations out of 5

Clearing out some Netflix - Episode 1: The Illusionist

Paul Giamatti and, of course, Edward Norton are the true stars of this romantic suspense film set at the turn of the century in Vienna. It is a romance for Norton and Biel. A mystery for Giamatti. In that way, the film is interesting. It also has some fun special effects and some neat tricks... errr, illusions, as one would expect per the title.

Rufus Sewell and Jessica Biel are quite capable supporting actors in the film but they seem slightly in above their heads against the other two. Plus, Edward Marsan is arguably the best in his supporting role out of this group of actors. Biel's accent comes across as terribly forced but considering what I expected from her, I was overall pleasantly surprised. Sewell was every bit of the character he seemed to be instructed to portray, nothing more, nothing less. Take that as you like.

I found a lot of the film reminiscent in ways to the storyline and tension in Gladiator between Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix. At times, setting that aside, the story was well-written and enjoyable enough. However, much of the scripting and the themes came off as stock. As a film I would want to just sit and watch without looking to turn a critical eye or put into any sort of competition with "great films", it definitely fits the bill. It's fun, interesting, engaging and overall quite entertaining.

4 better-than-Copperfield's out of 5

AFI Film #92: Goodfellas

DeNiro, Pesci, Liotta... if you like your American gangster films it's highly likely that you've enjoyed this film. This is another that I own so I'll cop to lots of bias here but I do think it's a little more highly rated than I might think it deserves. Still, who can forget Pesci's "I make you laugh? You think I'm funny?!" scene? Honestly, I don't think it is better than some of the films lower on the list. There, I said it. Now I just hope Ray Liotta doesn't show up at my doorstep ready to do a tapdance on my head.

That said, it is deserving of a place on the list if only for the fact that it is a very powerful film that simultaneously pays tribute to the Godfather franchise while adding its own modern twists. It also, in my opinion, deserves a place if only for being arguably the model upon which the Sopranos television series would later be based.

Getting back to the film, one of the elements that always surprises me upon watching it is how the music of the soundtrack plays a prominent, mood-setting role. It is so very up front that at times it seems nearly confrontatonal, for lack of a better term. It is as if nearly every new scene or mood shift in the film is clearly demarcated by some new song. I think this is one of the few films that I saw early one in which I literally felt anxious and almost uncomfortable throughout. If there is any movie that creates a sense of waiting for the other shoe to drop, it is this one (for the record, I think Hoffa is another example of this even though we pretty much know how that will end from the very beginning).

At any rate, despite some misgivings about its placement amongst the competition, I give it 4.5 "You think I'm funny?!"s out of 5.

AFI Film #90: Swing Time

This film is a great, even iconic, look at the mystique that is Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Plus, for my low-brow ass, the comedic moments remind me of the things I loved out of old episodes of the Three Stooges and Our Gang.

Overall, the film absolutely oozes style. There's little one can say about Astaire's presence on the stage and screen beyond how remarkable he is in a role such as this. Plus, we get to hear him sing "The Way You Look Tonight". So, yeah. There is a reason when people in popular media refer back to the "classic style icons" of an earlier era like this and this movie exhibits exactly why.

In the film itself, each scene seamlessly flows together even though the editing techniques of the time leave something to be desired with what we're used to these days. Aside from that minor gripe, the film is put together in such a way that the natural ebb and flow seems readily apparent yet hardly noticeable as any good film should do, especially with regard to proper pacing.

Now, honestly, I hedged a lot on finally sitting down to watch this movie but again I found myself borderline enthralled and utterly charmed. I think watching something like this and enjoying it this much reveals to me just how much of an utter romantic I tend to be. C'est la vie.

4.5 dances m'dear out of 5

AFI Film #94: Pulp Fiction

I cannot be objective about this film. It opened the eyes of the many who didn't latch onto Tarantino from True Romance or Reservoir Dogs. It resurrected John Travolta's career. It gave us the genius of Samuel L. Jackson before people started just calling him "Sam" and he ran into those snakes... on that plane, before he was a Jedi. Ving Rhames, Bruce Willis, and Harvey Keitel are amazing. It's arguably even Quentin's best performance on-screen. Then there's Uma Thurman, Tim Roth, Steve Buscemi, Eric effing Stoltz, Amanda Plummer and Rosanna Arquette.

The script is so eminently quotable that there are pieces of it that have arguably entered into the daily lexicon of many people.

So, yes, I'm a fan... and I still wonder but don't want to know what was in the briefcase.

5 combination 666's out of 5