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From: Simon Silberman Category: Films Date: 26 March 2009 Time: 04:18 AM Review: I finally got to see this "instant classic" last night. I bought a dodgy DVD of it from a girl in the pub. Everything you've heard about it is true. It really is a great movie. Robert D Siegelt who wrote the film's screenplay, Darren Aronofksy who directed it, Mickey Rourke who plays the central character Robin Ramzinski, (A.K.A Randy "The Ram" Robinson) and even Slash from Guns n Roses who does the soundtrack all deliver the goods. (For those of you who still haven't seen it) "The Ram" was at his peak back in the 1980s. Now he is a broken man with a body that's covered in scars and he relies on painkillers and other drugs to keep fighting. As he explains to his daughter Stephanie - "I'm just an old piece of meat that should be thrown out into the streets. I don't deserve love I just don't want you to hate me." Even when The Ram has a heart attack, moments after winning a fight we realise that fighting in the ring has become his addiction and he needs the fix of keeping his fans happy more than anything else. His semi girlfriend is 45 year old, a stripper and a single "mom". Towards the end of the film she encourages him that for his own safety he should stop wrestling. He tells her it's only in the outside world where he tries to patch things up with Stephanie that he gets hurt. The wrestler and the stripper both have a lot in common they both have to put up with more than their fair share of humiliation and they are both fighting against getting old. There are some funny moments and some very quoteable lines and I'll be amazed if you don't cry at the end. The wrestler is a brilliant film.