i saw the wrestler last night and it exceeded expectations ten fold. my favorite film of this ‘oscar push’ season – it is beautiful, harrowing, and like all my favorite art exposes an incredible story in an unexpected arena. it is humanist in the truest sense. mickey rourke and darren aronofsky excels while expandsing his breadth as an auteur. is phenomenal mick foley (mankind) has a great piece about at slate:

I found great authenticity in so many aspects of Randy’s battered psyche. His constant need for acceptance—from his estranged daughter; from his possible love interest, a stripper played by Marisa Tomei (who is wonderful, if a bit shocking for any guy who ever had a crush on her in My Cousin Vinny); from a random collection of customers at the deli counter where he works; from his dwindling number of nostalgic wrestling fans—is a theme that many a wrestler will grudgingly admit to connecting with. The scene depicting a poorly attended “Legends Convention” where Randy, a man so proud of his past, is forced not only to accept his present but to take a glimpse at the future, will strike an uncomfortable yet legitimate chord with every wrestling star whose personal appearances have ever been met with a symphony of silence.