Prior to The Wrestler, I had seen all three of Aronofsky's commercial films and was quite impressed. I loved the layer upon layer theme that Aronfosky had going. Granted, I heard through the grapevine that he's a real asshole to work with, but I think that's because he wants things done his way because he's making his film. To each his own.
I was skeptical going into The Wrestler. Matty Libatique didn't DP signally to me that we wouldn't be getting a whole lot of groundbreaking cinematography. The film wasn't marketed correctly either, nor did they push to keep it in the theater. On the whole, I think Fox dropped the ball. Thankfully, it got nominated for an Oscar.
Watching The Wrestler was a very uneasy task because of all the wrestling stunts. There were several places where it was so brutal that I honestly would have opted to have watched Passion of the Christ.
That having been said, Rourke is a powerhouse playing the role he was born to play. The way the emotional roller coaster was portrayed and the way Mickey rode it reminded me of Ellen Burstyn's performance in Requiem for a Dream. Aronofsky knows how to get a performance out of his talent.
I don't know if I could sit through The Wrestler again. During the first viewing I though, "I couldn't sit through all that again. It's too violent and emotional" but I wanted to see it last night after having the discussion here and on AIM. I loved how the ending was so open-ended but mourned the characters failures to communicate in time to have a happier ending.
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ninetydegrees
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I was skeptical going into The Wrestler. Matty Libatique didn't DP signally to me that we wouldn't be getting a whole lot of groundbreaking cinematography. The film wasn't marketed correctly either, nor did they push to keep it in the theater. On the whole, I think Fox dropped the ball. Thankfully, it got nominated for an Oscar.
Watching The Wrestler was a very uneasy task because of all the wrestling stunts. There were several places where it was so brutal that I honestly would have opted to have watched Passion of the Christ.
That having been said, Rourke is a powerhouse playing the role he was born to play. The way the emotional roller coaster was portrayed and the way Mickey rode it reminded me of Ellen Burstyn's performance in Requiem for a Dream. Aronofsky knows how to get a performance out of his talent.
I don't know if I could sit through The Wrestler again. During the first viewing I though, "I couldn't sit through all that again. It's too violent and emotional" but I wanted to see it last night after having the discussion here and on AIM. I loved how the ending was so open-ended but mourned the characters failures to communicate in time to have a happier ending.