Seldom in a movie is there such a connection between the movie, a piece of Americana, the actor and his or her life.  All of that is in the this movie dominated by Mickey Rourke.  Randy "The Ram" , an old burnt out shell of a man, who has given up most of his life to his profession as a professional wrestler is now facing mortality and the choices he made.

Mickey Rourke has admitted that a lot of his problems as an outcast and pariah in Hollywood were self induced by his bad temper and mean spirited ways exacerbated with his own variety of self destructive behavior.  He has always tried to deliver convincing characters in his career but his temper and "hard to work with" personality has pretty much tanked his career.  Along comes this character that not only can he relate to but in so many ways he has lived this.  We saw a similar character and association with Robert Downy Jr. in Iron Man this last year as well.

At the end of a wrestling match, "The Ram" suffers a heart attack.  He wakes in a hospital bed after a quadruple by pass and with the advice of doctors that the lifestyle he leads has to stop.  No more steroids, growth hormones, and self medication and more than that, if he keeps wrestling he most likely  will suffer another attack and might not be so lucky next time. 

Like so many people in their late 50's or early 60's he is alone, broke, no real skills and at best has a day to day or pay check to pay check existence.  He is still loved by loyal fans, even the kids in the trailer park he lives in.  For the rest of his life outside the ring is a shambles. He has a daughter that he is estranged from and tries desperately to revive some sort of relationship.  This is going to lead to one of the most emotional encounters of the movie.  He also visits a local strip joint where he has taken a fancy to one of the aging strippers and lap dancers, Pam, played by Marisa Tomei.  Pam has her own set of problems and is not willing to get involved with Randy beyond the customer relationship she has, even though the movie tells us she wants to.  To her credit the 44 year old is in prime physical condition and plays her part as the aging stripper with the the expertise of an Academy best supporting winner she has been.  Tomei was nominated for a Golden Globe and now another Academy Award nomination for this performance.

His daughter, Stephanie, who only has a small on screen time is excellently played by Evan Rachel Wood.  She handles the complex emotional range of the broken relationship in a way that convinces the audience she is the character she portrays. 

Rounding out some of the cast are many pro wrestlers , and a cast of extras all adding small touches, like the women that keeps asking for either more or little less in her potato salad here Randy is trying to make a living in a department store deli,  adding some comic relief in places to Randy's horrible dilemma. 

The movie itself was filmed almost like a biography, with the camera following "The Ram" and  were merely voyeurs into his life.  All this adds the story but In the end the movie is about the wrestler!  What choices he faces and how is ever to reconcile himself in this crisis in his life.  Mickey Rouke certainly has shown that he can deliver the goods, has been nominated for best actor by SAG, won the Golden Globe and is up again for an Oscar and I hope to see him in more movies again. 

Rated R for all of the nudity and one brief sex scene.  I didn't find any of this out of context for the movie.