When I read the script for The Wrestler a year or so ago I didn’t really get it. The wrestling scenes read like comedy but the tragedy this poor guys goes through was way too sad. Well Darren Aronofsky got it – and his finished product is a challenging yet fantastically rewarding journey in one man’s knee high green imitation leather boots. Mickey Rourke has got an Oscar nom wrapped up and at this stage of the game I’m gonna go ahead and give him the crown (err, belt). I’m not afraid to say his performance is on par with Daniel Day Lewis’s Daniel Plainview. Marisa Tomei is fantastic as well as his stripper love interest. When prodded at the post screening Q&A, she was quick to point out that it is only a coincidence that she has shown so much skin in her last two roles. If that isn’t reason enough to go, Aronofsky and D.P. Maryse Alberti’s decision to go handheld adds an extra layer of depth with its docu feel (no surprise Alberti spends most of his time shooting docus including last year’s Oscar winning Taxi to the Darkside). As I said, this isn’t always the easiest film to sit through. It is filled with trauma – both physical and emotional. But it really works, and in the end you are left richer from the experience.