The Wrestler

Mickey Rourke is as good as they say in this comeback bid, and so is Marisa Tomei. And director Darren Aronofsky offers a surprisingly self-effacing and empathetic look at a working-class New Jersey environment, where the aging hero and heroine have the exotic but ordinary jobs of professional wrestler and bargirl pole-dancer, good at what they do and heartfelt in it, though well past their prime. It’s all show biz, and these folks are troupers. Got to be, living from performance to performance, within a close and closed-in community. Mickey’s got specs (as well as pecs) and a hearing aid, but is still willing to give his body and soul to his bloody art. Marisa can definitely still shake that thing. The film manages to stand a number of cliches on their heads, without stooping to redemption or resolution. It feels real but doesn’t push it too far. (2008, dvd, n.) *7* (MC-81.)