I have to admit that when the Oscars came around, I hadn’t seen many of the movies up for awards, but yet I had favorites. Having watched a documentary on Harvey Milk while in college, I was partial to the triumphant and yet tragic story of this San Francisco municipal legend, but to be honest, I felt that Sean Penn was just too political in his public life to make me want to cheer for him.
And then there was Mickey Rourke. Oh, Mickey; I know what most people think – the guy’s a whacko and perhaps their right in many ways, but who doesn’t love an underdog? Had I seen The Wrestler? Nope, but I was pulling for Rourke to win the Oscar. Why? Well, there’s that underdog thing I mentioned, there’s the fact that I used to watch wrestling for many years and had been fascinated by some of the hardships the real life guys went through, and then there was a little known movie that came out in the late 1970s, was directed by the same guy that did The Deer Hunter, and starred a young Mickey Rourke. The film, The Year of The Dragon was a gritty and dark tale of the Chinese mafia in New York and was a powerful and riveting movie that left a strong impression with me.
And even after Milk won the Oscar, I could tell that there was still pride in Mickey Rourke’s smile. Perhaps he knew that he wasn’t the sexy and popular choice among his peers, but when Sean Penn gave his speech; I sort of got the feeling that Sean Penn thought Rourke deserved it, too. Not only did that raise my respect for Penn, but it made me want to see The Wrestler more than ever.
About a week ago I sat across the dinner table from my brother-in-law and we talked about this movie. I was admittedly surprised that he’d seen it and more surprised at how much he’d loved it. I got goose bumps as we talked about the raw emotion the film evoked and the true-to-life and daring performance Rourke gave. If I could tell you to watch one movie this year, The Wrestler might be it. Why? I’ve got goose bumps writing this now!
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