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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
31
American Affair, An
75
Betrayal - Nerakhoon, The
70
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49
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51
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33
Caller, The
44
Chandni Chowk to China
63
Changeling
64
Che
59
Cherry Blossoms
92
Class, The
58
Defiance
45
Delhi 6
43
Donkey Punch
xx
Echelon Conspiracy
56
Eleven Minutes
66
Examined Life
44
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69
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80
Frost/Nixon
85
Gomorrah
40
Good
84
Happy-Go-Lucky
21
House of the Sleeping Beauties
50
How About You
79
I've Loved You So Long
69
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79
Katyn
57
Last Chance Harvey
82
Let the Right One In
17
Lodger, The
58
Luck by Chance
63
Medicine for Melancholy
25
Memorial Day
73
Must Read After My Death
43
Not Easily Broken
xx
Objective, The
81
Of Time and the City
34
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78
Pray the Devil Back to Hell
82
Rachel Getting Married
58
Reader, The
65
Scott Walker: 30 Century Man
80
Serbis
49
Shadows
75
Silent Light
86
Slumdog Millionaire
82
Stranded: I Have Come from a Plane That Crashed on the Mountains
67
Synecdoche, New York
xx
Trouble with Romance, The
73
Two Lovers
83
U2 3D
xx
Velveteen Rabbit, The
91
Waltz with Bashir
81
Wendy and Lucy
81
Wrestler, The
92
Class, The
91
Waltz with Bashir
86
Slumdog Millionaire
85
Gomorrah
84
Happy-Go-Lucky
83
U2 3D
82
Rachel Getting Married
82
Let the Right One In
82
Stranded: I Have Come from a Plane That Crashed on the Mountains
81
Wrestler, The
81
Of Time and the City
81
Wendy and Lucy
80
Serbis
80
Frost/Nixon
79
I've Loved You So Long
79
Katyn
78
Pray the Devil Back to Hell
75
Betrayal - Nerakhoon, The
75
Silent Light
73
Two Lovers
73
Must Read After My Death
70
Black Balloon, The
69
Just Another Love Story
69
Fear(s) of the Dark
67
Synecdoche, New York
66
Examined Life
65
Scott Walker: 30 Century Man
64
Che
63
Medicine for Melancholy
63
Changeling
59
Cherry Blossoms
58
Luck by Chance
58
Reader, The
58
Defiance
57
Last Chance Harvey
56
Eleven Minutes
51
Breakfast with Scot
50
How About You
49
Shadows
49
Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh
45
Delhi 6
44
Fanboys
44
Chandni Chowk to China
43
Not Easily Broken
43
Donkey Punch
40
Good
34
Otto; or Up with Dead People
33
Caller, The
31
American Affair, An
25
Memorial Day
21
House of the Sleeping Beauties
17
Lodger, The
xx
Velveteen Rabbit, The
xx
Objective, The
xx
Trouble with Romance, The
xx
Echelon Conspiracy
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Wrestler, The
Fox Searchlight Pictures
MPAA RATING: R for violence, sexuality/nudity, language and some drug use
Starring
Mickey Rourke,
Marisa Tomei,
and
Evan Rachel Wood
Back in the late ‘80s, Randy “The Ram” Robinson was a headlining professional wrestler. Now, twenty years later, he ekes out a living performing for handfuls of diehard wrestling fans in high school gyms and community centers around New Jersey. (Fox Searchlight)
GENRE(S): |
Drama
|
WRITTEN BY: |
Robert D. Siegel
|
DIRECTED BY: |
Darren Aronofsky
|
RELEASE DATE: |
Theatrical: December 17, 2008
|
RUNNING TIME: |
109 minutes, Color |
ORIGIN: |
USA |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
100
Entertainment Weekly
Owen Gleiberman
The Wrestler is like "Rocky" made by the Scorsese of "Mean Streets." It's the rare movie fairy tale that's also a bravura work of art.
100
Variety
Todd McCarthy
Rourke creates a galvanizing, humorous, deeply moving portrait that instantly takes its place among the great, iconic screen performances. An elemental story simply and brilliantly told, Darren Aronofsky's fourth feature is a winner from every possible angle.
100
Premiere
Jenni Miller
Rourke is getting tons of press and award nominations, but Marisa Tomei kicks ass too. Not only does the one-time Oscar winner look amazing and perform her own pole tricks, but she effectively humanizes what could be just another naked chick in a movie.
100
Boston Globe
Ty Burr
The Wrestler is a character study, no more and no less, yet it's open-ended enough to function as many things.
100
San Francisco Chronicle
Mick LaSalle
The movie has the simplicity and confidence of a Johnny Cash song.
100
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
This is Rourke doing astonishing physical acting.
100
Empire
Dan Jolin
An emotional smackdown. Rourke's never been better, and the change of pace and texture suits Aronofsky perfectly. "The Raging Bull" of wrestling movies? Oh, go on then.
91
Portland Oregonian
Shawn Levy
It's a raw and honest film, and it keeps its feet firmly on the ground, even as The Ram flies through the air to deliver -- or receive -- another beating in the squared circle of life.
90
Slate
Dana Stevens
The Ram is sometimes--often, even--a manipulative, self-pitying man, but Rourke and Aronofsky paint his portrait with a rigorous dignity.
90
The New York Times
A.O. Scott
Like its hero, the movie has a blunt, exuberant honesty, pulling off even its false moves with conviction and flair.
90
The New Yorker
Anthony Lane
What Rourke offers us, in short, is not just a comeback performance but something much rarer: a rounded, raddled portrait of a good man. Suddenly, there it is again--the charm, the anxious modesty, the never-distant hint of wrath, the teen-age smiles, and all the other virtues of a winner.
88
ReelViews
James Berardinelli
Aronofsky's directorial style is simple and spare. There are no flourishes or attempts to convince us that he is a master of his craft.
88
New York Post
Kyle Smith
The Wrestler offers something to pretty much everyone in the audience. Much like "The Sopranos," it creates a world that might make you feel utterly at home or exhilarated by strange horrors. Maybe both.
88
Miami Herald
Rene Rodriguez
The Wrestler presents a fascinating peek at the workings of the pro wrestling industry (the tenderness and humor the athletes share backstage is the complete opposite of the ferocity they display in the ring).
88
Chicago Tribune
Michael Phillips
The Wrestler works for the same reason "Rachel Getting Married" works. The way they're acted, shot, edited and scored, both films deploy a loose, rough-hewn documentary style to great dramatic advantage. The corn isn't hyped. The performances click without going for the jugular.
88
Philadelphia Inquirer
Steven Rea
It's a haunting, scary, funny, sad portrayal from Rourke.
88
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers
You watch The Wrestler (with a superb title song from Bruce Springsteen) in a state of pure exhilaration. A great actor in a great movie will do that to you.
88
Charlotte Observer
Lawrence Toppman
The film's a little more accessible than "Requiem for a Dream" and a lot easier to understand than "The Fountain," but its low-key grunginess may restrict its appeal to people who have liked professional wrestling and/or Rourke.
83
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
William Arnold
It's bleak, credulity straining and often stomach-turning, but it definitely works as a heart-tugging character study, and Rourke's performance as the has-been title character is golden.
83
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Noel Murray
Mostly though, the movie feeds off Rourke, who plays a genuinely decent guy who never lets his dawning self-awareness interfere with his responsibility to give the fans a show.
80
New York Daily News
Elizabeth Weitzman
Both Rourke and Tomei bring a tender, lived-in honesty to their sad roles.
80
The Hollywood Reporter
Stephen Farber
Bolstered by a career-best performance from Mickey Rourke and outstanding work by Marisa Tomei and Evan Rachel Wood.
80
Wall Street Journal
Joe Morgenstern
Director, Darren Aronofsky, and the writer, Robert D. Siegel, have turned the story of this washed-up faux gladiator into a film of authentic beauty and commanding consequence.
80
Chicago Reader
J.R. Jones
He looks like a truck ran over him, but at 52 he's still ripped enough to get away with the role; in the end the movie is about Rourke's indomitability more than the character's.
78
Austin Chronicle
Josh Rosenblatt
As far as I'm concerned, you can keep your Sean Penns and your Brad Pitts and your Frank Langellas; if there's any justice in the world, this year's best actor Academy Award will be going home with Rourke.
75
USA Today
Claudia Puig
The story has its clichéd and sentimental moments. It's no "Raging Bull," more like "Rocky" shot with a handheld camera. But Rourke's wounded tough guy is undeniably captivating.
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Liam Lacey
The excesses are easy to forgive, both for the humour and charisma of Rourke's outsized performance and Aronofsky's canny low-key direction, which make for a combination that is irresistible.
70
Washington Post
John Anderson
As good as Rourke is, and as willingly as he throws himself on the figurative hand grenade, his performance constantly begs the question of whether the story would be worth telling without him. Marisa Tomei, as Cassidy the pole dancer, delivers a courageous performance, one nearly as ego-battering as Rourke's.
70
Film Threat
Matthew Sorrento
The Wrestler could have been a groundbreaking drama, one that upturns the sensational genre roots from which it stems. With Rourke in such form, it could have been character-driven to the core – if only Aronofsky trusted his character enough to resist screenwriter Siegel's contrived plot thrusts.
70
Village Voice
J. Hoberman
Present in every scene, if not each shot, Rourke gives a tremendously physical performance that The Wrestler essentially exists to document.
70
Salon.com
Stephanie Zacharek
Whatever Aronofsky did -- or didn't -- do, Rourke's performance comes off beautifully. The Wrestler may not be the "best" Aronofsky movie in any technical sense. But the director clearly feels a great deal of tenderness toward his lead character.
67
Christian Science Monitor
Peter Rainer
A heavy dose of corn syrup. Director Darren Aronofsky's herky-jerky, hand-held camera stylistics have a veneer of verity, but don't be fooled. This pastiche, written by Robert Siegel, is purest Hollywood.
63
Baltimore Sun
Michael Sragow
This movie has an aura of forced tragedy, like a fourth-generation version of "Requiem for a Heavyweight."
60
New York Magazine
David Edelstein
The movie isn't as world-shattering as those bouts: It's a regretful-old-warrior weeper.
50
Time
Richard Corliss
Rourke does strong, sensitive work here, which will cheer his old-time admirers and win him new fans...But the movie itself is pretty bad.
50
Los Angeles Times
Kenneth Turan
The Wrestler doesn't add up. It's constructed with great care around a lead performance that is everything it could possibly be, but the picture itself is off-putting and disappointing.
The average user rating for this movie is 8.5 (out of 10) based on 94 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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