The Wrestler (2008) on Netflix
Randy "The Ram" Robinson, long past his 1980s fame, takes weekend matches in New Jersey and works part-time at a supermarket. A rematch with his rival, the Ayatollah, could revive his career.
- Netflix3.6/5
- IMDb7.9/10332,753 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes98%
Trailer
Plot summary
Robin Ramzinski, whose ring name is Randy "The Ram" Robinson, headlines wrestling cards in the 1980s. Two decades on he takes weekend bouts on the independent circuit in New Jersey, lives in a trailer park and loads boxes part-time at a supermarket, where his boss mocks him and grants him few hours. At the strip club Cheeques he befriends Cassidy, a dancer older than her coworkers. His manager proposes a 20th-anniversary rematch with the Ayatollah, the opponent from his Madison Square Garden heyday, and Randy, hoping to climb back to the top, says yes. He bleaches his hair, tans and buys steroids, then accepts a hardcore match in which he and his opponent use thumbtacks, staple guns, barbed wire and glass.
Cast
- Tommy Farraas Tommy Rotten
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Wrestler (2008)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Nicolas Cage entered talks to star in The Wrestler in October 2007 but left a month later, with Mickey Rourke replacing him; Darren Aronofsky said Cage pulled out because Aronofsky wanted Rourke as the lead.
- Nicolas Cage denied he was dropped from The Wrestler, saying in a 2009 interview that he resigned because he did not think he had enough time to achieve the look of a wrestler on steroids, which he said he would never do.
- Hulk Hogan claimed on The Howard Stern Show in 2012 that he was also offered the lead role in The Wrestler and turned it down because he felt he was not the right man for it; Darren Aronofsky disputed this, tweeting the role was always Rourke's.
- Bruce Springsteen wrote the title song for The Wrestler while on tour in Europe, after Mickey Rourke sent him a letter and a copy of the script; the song plays over the film's closing credits.
- The Guns N' Roses song "Sweet Child o' Mine" plays during Randy's entrance at the end of The Wrestler; Mickey Rourke said in his Golden Globe acceptance speech that Axl Rose donated the song free because of the film's modest budget, and the closing credits thank Rose.
- In March 2009, Javad Shamaqdari, cultural adviser to then-Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, demanded an apology from a visiting delegation of Academy actors and producers over what he called negative and unfair portrayals of Iran in The Wrestler and other Hollywood films.
- For a scene featuring the fictional Nintendo game Wrestle Jam '88, director Darren Aronofsky asked for a fully functioning game; programmer Randall Furino and title designer Kristyn Hume built a playable demo with a working interface, AI routines and 1980s-style graphics and music.
- Mickey Rourke was initially reluctant to take the lead in The Wrestler and said he did not care for the script; Darren Aronofsky let him rewrite all his own parts, and Rourke said he was okay with the film once those changes were made.
