First I have to admit I am prejudiced by it mainly being filmed in and around my hometown of Rahway, NJ. They used my American Legion Post as well. My son when deployed in Bahrain almost jumped off the ouch yelling, "That's my Dad's post!" But let's get on point. I am a sucker for convincing performances. I will watch a film over and over and over again, almost mesmerized with conincing performances which Rourke and Tomei displayed. Everyone else, except for thedaighte I could identify with and I could also picture individuals I know on these roles. Great job! Very nice work.

The Wrestler is like a newspaper story made into a movie: "Old, dirty, drug-abusing wrestler gets a second chance. Ruins it because he's a selfish idiot". A waste of talent, time and money.It's just a meaningless movie with an unlikeable main character (not that the other characters are saints either). It's strange world we live in, where people want to see movies about jerks who do drugs, sleep around, fail their loved ones and destroy their lives. That depressing garbage like The Wrestler called art by some is also a mystery (well, not really...these days, taking a crap in public makes you an artistic genius).Someone already did the unlikeable loser ruins everything-stuff many years ago in a Swedish silent movie called "The Phantom Carriage", but they did it the right way. That movie is also dark and ugly in parts, but doesn't resort to profanity and pointless nudity to tell the story. It didn't have a stupid ending either. Or you could just watch Santo in the Wax Museum instead...

I'm not a fan of wrestling (let alone sports) but I enjoy a good sports movie and The Wrestler is up there with some of my favourite sports movies ever. It tells the simple yet touching story of an aging professional wrestler who was big in the 80s but now past his prime. Then after suffering a heart attack, he reluctantly retires from wrestling and tries to adjust to normality by working in a deli counter, forming a relationship with a stripper and even trying to bond with his estranged daughter. In my opinion, The Wrestler is the best sports movie since the first Rocky movie. It even got praised from other professional wrestlers as well. And I'm glad that Mickey Rourke won both a B.A.F.T.A. Film Award and a Golden Globe for his portrayal as Randy "The Ram" but I'm surprised he didn't get an Oscar because this was the performance of his career. And I'm also surprised The Wrestler was only nominated for two Oscars. If you ask me, it should've been given more nominations like Best Director, Best Original Song or even Best Picture because it's one of the best movies of 2008.

cold and bitter and touching. a lesson of life, at the first sigh. the come back of Mickey Rourke. and example of admirable simplicity for describe the profound solitude. one of films who has the desire to expose slices from every day reality. nothing special. only a spectacular career, the memories of success, the meaning of life, the new beginning and a meet who could save the errors from the past. The Wrestler is one of films about ordinary things who remains, long time after you see, a kind of wound. because a part of Randy Robinson is from us. the frustrations, the desire to resurrect the golden ages, the need to replace the pieces of reality as a form of revenge against himself.and the love. a kind of poem of small things. this is The Wrestler.