THE ENEMY WITHIN
Mickey Rourke: Beating His Own Worst Enemy Back To The Ring
MICKEY ROURKE'S THE WRESTLER IS A DOWN-AND-OUT TALE OF A HAS-BEEN BOXER TRYING TO CLIMB his way back to the top.
The general premise is strikingly similar to the Rocky series, Rocky Balboa. But whereas Rocky lives a middle-class existence, owns a restaurant and cashes in on his residual glory, the main character in The Wrestler is a colossal mess of a man, just barely able to afford the rent on his trailer.
And who better to play The Ram than that marvel of hopelesssness and shame, Mickey Rourke.
While many reviewers have pegged The Wrestler as Rourke’s “comeback” film, Rourke has in fact been acting fairly consistently since he caught his first big break in Barry Levinson’s Diner (1982) alongside Kevin Bacon.
It was in Levinson’s film that Rourke displayed an untamed quality compelling critics to label him the next Marlon Brando.
Rourke, like Brando, exuded a calculating, sly, pensive edge hidden beneath an almost angelically beautiful and boyish exterior. He was a walking contradiction, a character whom with one glance could read your game plan and beat you at it.
After proving his acting chops in such movies as Angel Heart, and Rumble Fish, it looked like Rourke was destined for leading-man stardom, but something derailed along the way. Word circulated that Rouke was “difficult.”
Alan Parker, director of Angel Heart, said that "working with Mickey is a nightmare. He is very dangerous on the set because you never know what he is going to do."
Yet offers continued to come in for lead roles in Beverly Hills Cop,The Untouchable, Rain Man and Silence of the Lambs. Rourke rejected them all, opting for more risky roles in films such as 9 ½ Weeks and Wild Orchid.
Rourke turned his back on Hollywood's vision for him. Half resentful of his fame and half in love with it, Mickey “quit” Hollywood in 1991 to pursue boxing, a sport he claimed to have grown up doing. He was no longer a viable option for leading man status, and any chance he had for substantial roles seemed to disappear.
Still, he never disappeared entirely. Most recently he was Kiera Knightley’s mentor in Domino, and the deformed misfit-villain, Marv, in Sin City. But the The Wrestler makes even more perfect use of his battered face, now beaten and bloated, the byproduct of boxing and too many reconstructive procedures. And yet, in context of the film and its subject matter, it’s a face of pure poetry.
Rourke plays his part with such a disturbing reality that the initial shock of his face quickly fades. This is a role that, if not written just for Rourke, has fallen into perfect hands.
Watching Randy “The Ram” Robinson come to terms with the fact that his career and his fame is losing its relevance is like witnessing a intervention in Rourke’s own life. The parallels are laid out on the table and they are arresting to watch.
Rourke has said he relates to the shame and hopelessness of “The Ram.” Director Darren Aronofsky even allowed Rourke to re-write most of his lines. And in a recent interview Rourke reveals that in one of the most emotionally charged scenes, between he and his daughter played by Evan Rachel Wood, Rourke nearly recited word-for-word a conversation he had with a person very dear to him, (in all probability Rourke’s ex-wife, Carré Otis).
With critical acclaim, a Golden Globe for Best Actor and a possible Oscar nomination, it would appear as though The Wrestler truly is Mickey Rourke’s comeback. Rourke doesn’t sound keen on falling back into old bad habits, and eager to climb back in the ring.
But I wonder what kind of roles Mickey can snag at this stage in the game. While his physical beauty is gone for good, the charisma and talent that set him apart still remain – but is that enough? And despite his claims that his attitude has changed, can we believe it?
It will be interesting to see where Rourke goes from here. At the very least, there are people rooting for him.
Natalie Melendez is a work in progress. Currently she resides in an undisclosed mountainous California location, where she spends her time studying, writing and roasting chestnuts by the fire. You can email her here.
Posted January 22, 2009
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