We Hate Hollywood

Written and directed by Christopher Nolan
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger, Michael Caine
Rated PG-13 for violence
Rating - Golden Gun

A truly great movie can sometimes feels like Haley’s Comet.  In the universe of film, you see it so rarely that you begin to think you never will.  When it arrives, you are awestruck with its power.  This is especially true with action films since they tend to burn brightly and fade into mediocrity quickly.

But is it fair to classify Inception as an action film?  It is so much more.  Christopher Nolan has crafted a film so bold, so daring, and so unique that it doesn’t just transcend but obliterates the boring genre of “summer blockbuster”.

The less you know about Inception going in, the better chance you have of a truly unique film experience.  With that in mind, I am going to reveal very little about the plot except to say that Leonardo DiCaprio and Joseph Gordon-Levitt play agents of corporate espionage whose job it is to extract ideas from people’s minds.  Literally.  In their world, it is scientifically possible to enter someone’s mind via dreams.  But now, their client (Ken Watanabe) hires them for a different job…he needs them to plant an idea in someone’s mind.  That’s your action movie.  And that’s as far as I’ll talk about the plot.

Before you science fiction haters begin to flee, you must know…this is not a typical sci-fi film.  In fact, “typical” is a useless adjective for discussing this film.  Like The Matrix, it takes philosophical ideas about the essence of the mind and infuses them with jaw-dropping action and visual effects.  In fact, it surpasses The Matrix in that marriage of intelligence and violence.

The cast is outstanding.  Nolan really knows how to bring the best out of his actors (and obviously has some favorites such as Cillian Murphy, Michael Caine, and Ken Watanabe).  Leonardo DiCaprio is at the top of his game as he always seem to be.  Together, he and Joseph Gordon-Levitt redefine cool.  Ellen Page was an odd choice for this film but even she works.  I also admire  how Nolan doesn’t use supporting characters for throwaway roles. In the “actors you may not know but by name but would probably recognize” department, Tom Hardy (Bronson; RocknRolla) and Dileep Rao (Drag Me to Hell; Avatar) play characters that you root for and sympathize with.  Hell, even Tom Berenger shows up in a small but pivotal role.  And finally, Marion Cotillard continues her US invasion with a heart-breaking performance that fuels the emotional core of the film.

Christopher Nolan is truly a spectacular director.  Not only does he have a firm command of the camera (and refuses to do 3D because it limits what you can do with the camera), but he understands action.  He is not an “action director”, but there may not be anyone working today who can direct action better.  Yes, I’m looking at you, Michael Bay.  The action scenes in this film are unlike most things you have seen.  At more than one point, I caught myself literally holding my breath and palms sweating.  This is reach-in-through-your-nose-and-squeeze-your-hips suspense.

A true mind-bender of a movie, Inception may take more than one viewing to completely grasp all of its elements, but it’s not so over the top that it completely loses its audience.  The parameters and rules of the universe the characters inhabit are fully and adequately explained.  As the plot gets deeper and deeper, I was amazed at how effectively it pulls the audience down into the rabbit hole.

In this age of banal, forgetful, and dreary filmmaking, Inception is an oasis in the desert.  It is the bastion of quality, the antithesis of formula, and the epitome of originality.

Directed by Niels Arden Oplev
Written by Nikolaj Arcel and Rasmus Heisterberg
Based on the novel by Stieg Larsson
Starring Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Peter Haber, Sven-Bertil Taube, Peter Andersson, Ingvar Hirdwall, Marika Lagercrantz
Rated R for violence, profanity, nudity, sexual scenes including some depicting rape
Rating - Golden Gun

There is a moment in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo when investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) relays some information he has uncovered to another character.  Anger flashes across the character’s face.  It is subtle but in that instant, I knew who the killer was.  That is terrific acting.  It is also the mark of an intelligent and highly absorbing thriller.

As the film opens, Blomkvist is being sentenced to a 3 month stint in jail for libel of a powerful businessman.  Blomkvist realizes he has been setup, but his verdict is his fate.  He has 6 months to get his affairs in order.  Shortly after the trial, he is asked to visit wealthy industrialist Henrik Vanger (Sven-Bertil Taube).  Henrik lives on the family estate located on a remote Swedish island with only one road connecting it to the mainland.  It is a cold and desolate but beautiful place.  Henrik is still grieving for the disappearance of his niece Harriet who went missing in 1966 at the age of 16.  Henrik is convinced that someone in his corrupt family killed her since he continues to receive pressed flowers on his birthday, a tradition that Harriet started when she lived on the estate.  He likes Blomkvist, has been following his legal woes, and offers him a large sum of money to look into Harriet’s disappearance and find out who’s responsible.

In a seemingly unrelated plotline, we meet 24 year-old punk computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace), she with the dragon tattoo.  Lisbeth works for a security company acquiring data for their many clients.  On her current case, she is looking into Blomkvist.  From hacking into his computer, she finds no evidence that he is guilty of libel but she is intrigued by him.  But Lisbeth has serious problems of her own.  She has just been assigned a new financial guardian of her trust fund.  This particular monster wants sexual favors from Lisbeth in exchange for money.  This leads to two very uncomfortable scenes, one of which ends in a brutal rape.  It is a very hard scene to watch, but it’s supposed to be.  Lisbeth responds to the rape in a shocking fashion that establishes her character as a very troubled person with a murky past but someone you certainly don’t want to mess with.

Through a series of events I won’t ruin, she and Blomkvist join forces and do some detective work to figure out what happened to Harriet.  And this is where the movie completely sucks you in.  This is not a frenzied and chaotic murder mystery replete with chases, ridiculous leaps of logic, and last minute surprise characters who show up out of nowhere.  It is a mature, measured, and thoroughly engrossing journey into a family plagued with evil, deceit, and Nazi-sympathizers.  At times, the suspense makes your blood run cold.

The film is based on the first of three books by Stieg Larsson called “the Millenium trilogy”.  Larsson suffered a massive heart attack at the age of 50 in 2004.  When he died, his trilogy hadn’t even been published yet.  After his death, he would go on to become the second best-selling author (in 2008) as a result of this trilogy.  Larsson himself said that he sees the character of Lisbeth as a grown up Pippi Longstocking.  Interesting since Pippi had superhuman strength and would act out against adults who were misusing or abusing their power.  This film, and I assume the novel, draws heavily on themes of power and control (illustrated by the rape among other things).  The tattoo is also an interesting thematic device.  The very large tattoo covers Lisbeth’s entire back.  She is forever marked by a significant event in her life.

The film is tough to watch at times.  Aside from the rape scenes, the revelation of the killer and the killer’s motives are seriously twisted.  I was struck with how much it reminded me of a David Fincher film such as Se7en.  I guess that makes sense since I subsequently discovered that Fincher has signed on to direct the American remake.

But amidst all of this evil and perversion what emerges is a surprisingly tender story of loss and healing (a place that Fincher does not usually go with films of this ilk).  I don’t think redemption is fully realized, but its seeds are undoubtedly planted.  This is a trilogy after all.  The film is not perfect.  It has another one of those scenes where the killer explains his motives to give time for the cavalry to arrive.  Most notably, after 2 1/2 hours (which goes by fast), too many things happen in the closing moments as if the filmmakers realized “Uh oh.  We better wrap this up fast!”.  That said, who knew I had to go to Sweden to see one of the best suspense thrillers in recent memory?

Directed by Jason Reitman
Written by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner
Starring George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, Jason Bateman, Tamala Jones, Chris Lowell
Rated R for profanity and sexual content
Rating - Golden Gun

“The slower we move the faster we die. Make no mistake, moving is living.” - Ryan Bingham

Ryan Bingham is a shark.  He is a corporate downsizing consultant who spends most of his year flying around the country laying off employees in companies whose managers are too chicken to wield the ax themselves.  He is constantly moving through airport security checkpoints, between arrival and departure gates, and into rental cars.  In his wake, he leaves people at their most vulnerable - jobless, angry, and scared.  In addition to his work, Ryan gives motivational speeches around the country in which he discusses the benefits of a life free of relationships and mounds of material possessions.  He has found happiness in constantly moving forward amidst a sea of traveling strangers.

To say Bingham is played effortlessly by George Clooney is an understatement.  In fact, some have criticized the role as being “tailor-made” for him.  Whatever.  Even if it was, it fits him perfectly and propels the story.  Clooney plays the character with a panache and intensity that makes him - like Michael Clayton - the perfect charming anti-hero.  He is shallow but funny and brutally honest.  In one terrific early scene, he shows a fresh Cornell grad, Natalie, the secrets to air travel.  He explains to her how to navigate the lines by stereotyping the age and ethnicity of the people in front of you.  Natalie is shocked by his method, but Clooney wins over the audience in that scene with his honesty and humor.

In many ways, this is a simple film.  I went into the film armed with a bare minimum of details about the plot.  Because I’d like for you to experience it in a similar manner, I will avoid as much of the plot as I can.  But this is a pitch-perfect drama that underscores the need for real human connections.  It’s so rare to see a film in today’s climate that is so open, honest, and pro-marriage.

The biggest strength of the film is in the script adapted by Sheldon Turner and director Jason Reitman based on the novel by Walter Kirn.  It is intelligent and excruciatingly witty.  Material such as this can be pretentious, but that doesn’t happen here.  In tone, Up in the Air is closer to Reitman’s previous film Thank You For Smoking than Juno.  Yes, it is making a statement about the human condition but it does so without beating you over the head with it or with quirky angst-ridden dialogue.

In some ways, the film is an examination of the ways in which our humanity is being crushed by the gears of corporate America.  No, it’s not a political film by any stretch of the imagination…it’s just a window into what that world does to people.  More importantly, it is an examination of the futility of a life spent chasing the dollar, and the cost of selfish goals.  In a sarcastic and pessimistic world, this is a real and uncommon breath of fresh, rational air.

Directed by Lee Daniels
Written by Geoffrey Fletcher
Starring Gabourey “Gabby” Sidibe, Paula Patton, Mo’Nique, Mariah Carey, Sherri Shepherd, Lenny Kravitz
Rated R for violence, pervasive profanity, scenes depicting sexual and physical abuse of a minor
Rating - Golden Gun

Clareece ‘Precious’ Jones is a 16-year-old illiterate girl growing up in 1987 Harlem.  She is obese.  Her clothes don’t fit.  She is pregnant with her second child from her own father, having been raped for most of her life.  Her first child has Down’s Syndrome.  Her father is now out of the picture, but her mother Mary (Mo’Nique) physically and verbally abuses her.  Constantly.  People make fun of her and literally push her down.  She has been stripped of her innocence, a punching bag her entire life.  Ready to buy your ticket?

Precious is brutal, raw, vulgar, unflinching, unrelenting, overwhelming, indelibly disturbing, heart-wrenching, and emotionally exhausting.  When I began hearing and reading about this film, I wondered “How in the hell can this be an uplifting story?”  It is.

The film is not based on a true story but on the novel “Push” by Sapphire.  In fact, the official title of the film is Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire which really pisses me off.  It is an embarrassingly misguided and bloated title mired in the muck of marketing and promotions.  Why not go the full distance and title it Precious:  Directed by Lee Daniels, Written by Geoffrey Fletcher, Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, and Starring Gabourey “Gabby” Sidibe, Mo’Nique, Mariah Carey, and Holy Shit! Lenny Kravitz! But I digress.

I’ve read some criticisms of the film as heaping too much abuse on its protagonist.  These people are so missing the point.  The film may not be based on a true story, but it feels like reality.  Sadly, we know there are girls out there suffering like this.  More importantly, from a story-telling standpoint, all of Precious’ problems are connected.  She isn’t the victim of a random string of Job-like predicaments that plague Larry Gopnick in A Serious Man.  As a victim of incessant incestuous sexual abuse, why is it hard to believe that a young girl would fall into obesity, problems at school, and have babies with birth defects?  There are other problems that come later I won’t get into that are also directly tied to the sexual abuse.  Sexual abuse is like a bombshell, its fragments piercing many areas of the victim’s life.

One method that I really admire in Daniels’ direction is the use of dream sequences.  As Precious begins to go through a traumatic event, we are transported into one of her fantasies as she sings, dances, models, and goes on dates.  It is an effective way of communicating the heart cries of a broken girl but also a smart technique in keeping the audience from living through every wicked detail of the abuse.  Don’t get me wrong; the film is still quite graphic.

This is Gabourey ‘Gabby’ Sidibe’s first film.  In real life, this 26-year-old is a bubbly, joyful, and energetic woman secure with her body.  But her performance as Precious is breath-taking as she channels such extreme depths of sadness and misery.  For an illiterate 16-year-old, I like how Precious observes people around her.  In one moment of levity, she listens to two adults and narrates the scene with “They talk like people in TV shows that I don’t watch.”

Mo’Nique turns in an astounding performance that is difficult to watch but sure to earn her an Oscar nomination.  How a comedienne is able to pull this character out of her is simultaneously bewildering and admirable.  Mary is a monster.  She is a seething cauldron of hate and sheer, unbridled rage which explodes frequently in bursts of profanity and physical beatings.  Towards the end of the film, Mary sits with Precious and a social worker and talks about why she hates Precious.  As she talks and sobs, a sliver of humanity begins to shine through the cracks.  She is a truly complex character; the product of great drama.

How is hope attainable in all of this?  After a particularly ferocious fight with her mom, Precious stumbles out of their apartment and into the cold, unforgiving, snow-blown concrete jungle of Harlem.  She lumbers along carrying her newborn son.  She finally comes to a stop in front of a church, standing under a neon cross.  It is an unforgettable image.  But what’s fascinating is her shot at redemption doesn’t come from the church.  It comes, as it so often does, from other angels in her life.

Lenny Kravitz plays a nurse who takes care of Precious when she has her baby.  He is sympathetic to her and at one point, he leans forward and gently kisses her on the forehead.  The camera lingers for a moment, aware of the significance of this event as it is quite possible this is the first time anyone has ever shown true affection for her.  Mariah Carey is also effective (and unrecognizable) as a social worker named Mrs. Weiss who Precious begins seeing in an attempt to get welfare checks.  But, Mrs. Weiss is not just another calloused government worker jaded by the burden of her position.  She has a genuine love for Precious and her situation.  When Precious whines “You don’t even like me”, an exasperated Mrs. Weiss responds “Have we not been in this room together for like, a year discussing your life? ”

But perhaps the most important influence on Precious’ life comes from Ms. Rain (Paula Patton), the teacher from an alternative school that Precious begins attending when she is kicked out of her public school.  Ms. Rain is beautiful, fierce, and compassionate.  And she challenges her students.  It’s through Ms. Rain that Precious begins to see the cathartic power of writing and the potential that lies within her.  When Precious is dealt another blow in her life, she breaks down and begins to sob in class.  Ms. Rain, who has showered Precious with abundant quantities of kindness and love, gets in her face and tells her to write.  How this scene plays out will have you fumbling for the very last tissue in your box.

Precious is a staggering example of the power of art.  It had a profound effect on me.  Can you imagine how it will affect young women who are going through unimaginable pain?  What a message for them…that amidst all of the anguish, the heartache, and the gut-wrenching agony of life, there is hope in the people all around us if we just look in the right places.  That isn’t a naive, melodramatic, and Disney-like bullshit view of life.  It’s a very real message of hope that Sapphire captures in her novel: “I’m gonna break through, I’m gonna learn, catch up, be normal, change my seat to the front of the class”.

Directed by Louie Psihoyos
Written by Mark Monroe
Rating - Golden Gun

I’m not going to talk politics much on this site.  But, I’ll admit that when I hear the phrase “save the whales/dolphins”, I roll my eyes.  “Environmentalist”…”Tree-hugger”…”Going green”…these are phrases that I tend to shrug off and not give attention to.  But when I saw the trailer for The Cove, a documentary by Louie Psihoyos, I was intrigued.  I saw the movie and left shaken.

Taiji, Japan hides a very dark secret.  It is such a guarded secret that most of the residents there are unaware of what goes on in the shallow waters of that hollowed-out rock formation.  For years, fishermen there have gone out to sea in roughly 13 boats and embark on what is essentially a herding operation that can last for days.  Because of a dolphin’s super-sensitivity to sound - hence their use of sonar - the fishermen attach steel pipes to the sides of their ships and bang them mercilessly.  It literally drives the dolphins crazy.  Between the aural assault and the prolonged journey, the dolphins are exhausted by the time they reach this secret cove.  Representatives of dolphin exhibition companies (ie, SeaWorld - although the film points out that SeaWorld no longer acquires their dolphins this way) pick out the dolphins they want to train.  After they have paid for and procured the show-dolphins, the massacre begins.  Dolphins are speared repeatedly and their throats are cut.  The sea turns red with blood as the dolphins thrash about and scream.  It is an intense and disturbing sound.  During these fishing periods (lasting up to 6 months), up to 2,000 dolphins are killed.

Why the hell would anyone do this?  The first obvious answer seems to be “Well, it’s cultural”.  Bullshit.  The documentary points out that while Japan is heavily involved in the whaling industry and that whale meat is a delicacy, dolphin meat is not considered a delicacy.  In fact, dolphins are revered by most citizens even in Taiji.  The disturbing truth is that the dolphin meat is packaged and sold as “whale meat” and is being consumed in mass quantities by the population.  Even more disturbing is the fact that the dolphin meat is highly contaminated with mercury thanks to massive, unchecked, and unregulated  factory pollution.  The result is alarming rates of birth defects in Japan, especially Minamata disease which aggressively attacks the neurological system causing severe deformities as well as limitations or loss of limb movement, sight, hearing, and speech.

The government is also to blame.  Outrageously, this contaminated meat went into school lunches in Japan for years (it was finally stopped recently).  Government officials are also responsible for spreading disinformation in telling the people that dolphins are pests and this fishing practice is necessary for “pest control”.  They believe that whales and dolphins eat too much fish.  Gee…maybe that’s because IT’S A WHALE?  Funny how we insert ourselves into an ecological system and try to make it better.  Always with disastrous results.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg of problems that Louie Psihoyos and Ric O’Barry are pulling back the curtain on.  Ric O’Barry is a hell of a guy.  He was the dolphin trainer on the TV show Flipper.  It was through this job that he began to realize a serious disconnect between the way that humans interact with dolphins.   In fact, he believes that Dorothy, one of the dolphins he trained, committed suicide in his arms.  Ric says that when you spend enough time with dolphins, you can read their body language and you can tell when they are depressed.   Dolphins are not meant to live in captivity.  One day, Dorothy swam into his arms, stared at him, took one final breath (significant since they are voluntary breathers), and sank below the surface.  He was accused of her death and even arrested for trying to help her escape.  He never tried to free her but he vowed from that day on that he would free as many as he could.

Whenver he makes one of his many trips to Taiji, Ric is followed and sometimes even questioned by the local police.  He and his crew believe they are also followed by the Yakuza (Japanese mafia) who have heavily vested interests in this fishing practice that Ric wants to end.  At the cove itself, they are confronted by hostile fisherman who try to provoke them into a physical confrontation, so that the police can arrest Ric (which has happened many times).  The problem is that no one has ever been able to film the slaughter because of the security.

Enter Louie Psihoyos and his team of scuba divers, activists, and thrill-seekers.   They received assistance from Industrial Light and Magic in designing high-definition cameras to be hidden in fake rocks that blended with the landscape (some of them underwater) and trees around the cove.  The problem was how to plant them.  These operations account for the films most thrilling and nail-biting sequences as they evade foot patrols to plant the cameras.  The film ends with a few minutes of the footage that they captured.  It is shocking and will leave an indelible impression on you.

As yo up probably know, dolphins are highly intelligent creatures.  They are trained through sign language yet do not possess hands.  They - like whales - communicate through a variety of sounds using nasal airsacs located below the blowhole.  They are pranksters.  They have been observed sneaking up behind pelicans and snatching their tail feathers.  And they have an uncanny relationship with humans.  One surfer in the documentary tells a riveting story of a dolphin saving him from a shark attack.  Someone in the film posits that maybe we should turn our focus away from the search for intelligent life on other planets when we have dolphins.  These are special creatures.

How we treat animals says a lot about us as a person.  The book of Genesis tells us that we have dominion over the animals.  They can be used as a food source but we are also to respect them.  Whether or not you believe in the Bible, I think most people can agree that what goes on in Taiji is abhorrent.  There is a scene in The Cove in which a scuba diver swims with a whale.  It is amazing to see two creatures of such varying sizes swimming together in grace and harmony.  There is a bond of trust there.  It is absolutely breath-taking.

Some will scoff at the film and brush it off as animal-rights propaganda.  Well, propaganda is not inherently evil.  The word itself has been given a bad name from despots and sadistic government officials who use it to oppress their own people.  But by definition, propaganda can be used to help people or organizations.   I am not an animal rights activist by any stretch of the imagination.  I’m not an activist of any kind really.  I’m not a vegetarian.  But, I know the difference between right and wrong.

The Cove is in limited release but is probably showing somewhere in your city.  See the release date schedule.

Directed by Matteo Garrone
Screenplay by Maurizio Braucci, Ugo Chiti, Gianni Di Gregorio, Garrone, Massimo Gaudioso, and Roberto Saviano
Starring Salvatore Abruzzese, Toni Servillo, Gianfelice Imparato, Maria Nazionale
Not Rated - nudity and strong violence

Based on Roberto Saviano’s 2006 book, Gomorrah (English title) chronicles Saviano’s risky undercover work investigating the Camorra crime family and their activities in Italy, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Scotland. I have not read the book and do not want to do injustice to it by assuming its purpose. But with the brief history lesson I gave myself on Camorra, they are the oldest criminal organization in Italy whose reach and deadly violence surpasses the mafia we all seem to know so well in this country. By the time the movie made its release, it is stated that this organization generated $250 billion dollars through drug trafficking, illegal wasted dumping, racketeering, counterfeiting and gambling to name a few. However, they are also deeply entrenched legitimately in the European economy with fingers in construction and banking. Shockingly, the film suggests – apparently based on fact – that the Camorra is invested in the rebuilding of the World Trade Center. They are responsible for 4,000 deaths in the past 30 years. That’s one death every 3 days.

The gangster movies that are churned out by Hollywood, for the most part if not all, are completely glamorized. From The Godfather, a highly respected and well loved film even by myself, to Scarface, another centerpiece for the lifestyle of most pseudo-gangsters that I also enjoy, cannot compare to what a criminal lifestyle is truly like. There are no lavish parties, a code of respect even among thieves, not even a glimmer of hope. It is a true to form vicious cycle that feeds itself with the people it takes in and spits out with no remorse at all.

The movie tells the story of the everyday workers in this criminal organization from 5 different views. You have teenagers (played by Marco Macor and Ciro Petrone) who think they are tough enough to be the local kings, a young boy (Salvatore Abruzzese) who becomes involved in drug distribution, a man who is a money carrier, a fascinating look into those who deal with the dumping of poisonous waste as well as counterfeit clothing. Every perspective is dangerous, immoral in lacking any gray area, and grim. There is no real sense of relishing in any sort of success for whatever gains are made by these “soldiers”. It is nothing more than an illusion. You do not want to be any of these people prior to their respective conclusions. Case in point, the youngest character is initiated into the life by having to put on a bullet proof vest and be shot at point blank range.

Camera style can be closely compared to that of a documentary. From Garrone’s first scene where relaxing gangsters are brutally gunned down unexpectedly you know exactly where this will all end. The camera follows the characters close as they go through their respective lives. There are no grand shots but it isn’t that type of movie. There are at times when a brief but beautiful shot of the landscape interrupts the violence. The lives portrayed here are based on fact, not fiction. The final scene and shot sum up what it means for most who do not follow the rules set by this organization.

The actors themselves do a very good job. Do not expect a vibrant performance or a lesson in character acting. These characters live a grim existence, and the performances suit that. Those who survive are either left with nothing or a new view that is more hopeless to their prior one. While the younger characters do have some “fun”, the older generation is just trying to survive the best way they can in the only world they. The best role I would say goes to Toni Servillo who plays Franco, the man responsible for dumping poisonous waste into the earth, even with the help of children. In the last part of his respective story, he plays a mentor/boss to a young man who decides that he would rather lose a chance at being “the man” than play a part in destroying the southern part of Italy. Servillo’s character lectures the young man that this is the way it is. There is no escape. The organization is everywhere even if you don’t have a face to put it on, which is the unfortunate and scary truth. And then there is Pasquale (Salvatore Cantalupo) who at the end of his story gets a glimpse of a life that could have been his, but ends up getting in his semi and driving off accepting his position in this world. Not a word is said by him. It is through his very subtle looks and gestures that you understand what he feels and what he will never gain.

My faults with this movie are minor. Garrone takes a few moments too long for my liking to build up some important scenes. However once that destination is reached the final execution is done very well. The film is based on facts . Garrone is more interested in provoking thought and setting a mood instead of a “Who’s getting shot next?” feel. Also, this is a movie about Naples, Italy and is subtitled. It would be an injustice to be in English or dubbed. That alone may not make it many peoples’ cup of tea which is a shame.

Murder and death is a guaranteed part of this life. Gomorrah does not let that overall feeling of dread go away and is established from the first scene. People aren’t dodging bullets non-stop and the tough guy BS posturing is minimal. There is no Godfather in a mansion sitting on hill commanding his soldiers while being surrounded by his loving wife and family. In fact, you do not see any bosses. The fear is that far reaching that the boogie men are never heard from or seen. You wonder how that is as “clans” are warring with one another constantly and yet there is control from somewhere on high. It is shown very well how living in this particular area of Naples is life of what can be strongly argued as slave labor or “pigs to the slaughter”. There is no blaze of glory. Killing and death are as common to them as a morning coffee and getting the mail is to us. This is the Camorra in Naples. It is business as usual.

Directed by Darren Aronofsky
Starring Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood
Rated R for wrestling violence, profanity, nudity, and sexual scenes

“The only place I get hurt is out there. The world don’t give a shit about me.”

– Randy ‘The Ram’ Robinson

I have few movie going experiences like I did with Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler. While I’ve seen many movies that had an impact on me, The Wrestler lingered with me for days. I couldn’t stop thinking about Mickey Rourke’s powerful yet muted performance nor the indelible character he created with the charismatic yet tragic Randy ‘The Ram’ Robinson.

There is a terrific scene in the film in which The Ram, a wrestling megastar from the 80s, now sits 20 years later in an American Legion hall preparing to take Polaroid photos with fans and sign VHS tapes. He sets up his table and then slowly scans the room observing that his broken down comrades are in wheelchairs, walk with canes, and have colostomy bags. He himself sports a hearing aid and scars too numerous to count. But he still wrestles out of financial necessity and, more importantly, a genuine love for the sport.

This is a truly violent film. Much is made about wrestling being a “fake sport”, and it is true that the events are choreographed and the outcomes predetermined. Aronofsky shows this in great detail as The Ram discusses how much of a beating he is going to take from his opponent before finally finishing them off with his signature “Ram Jam” off the top rope. Most films about wrestling focus on this plastic wrapping of the sport - the manufactured drama between its participants and the cheesy displays of machismo. But Aronofsky is more interested in the physical and emotional toll that these gladiators go through. This is especially evident in the scene in which The Ram sits battered, bloodied, and bruised after a match that involved a staple gun, tacks, and a fall from a ladder onto a table wrapped in barbed wire. He hides his face from the others in the locker room as tears of pain stream onto the floor.

The Ram’s pain also comes from his past. He is living a life of bad decisions, continues to struggle with drug use, and has an estranged daughter named Stephanie  (Evan Rachel Wood) in the wake of his selfish indulgences. But, he is at a point in his life where physical limitations and regret are driving him to reconnect with her. And it is in this relationship, that one of the film’s only weaknesses lies. While I believe that the scenes in which her heart begins to melt are genuinely moving on their own, the speed at which she bounces between hating her father to suddenly giving him a second chance seem rushed.

But this is a minor complaint from a truly powerful film exploring the great difficulty at which an entertainer has at extricating themselves from the glow of the arena in which they perform. I’m surprised at some criticisms I’ve heard of Marisa Tomei’s Oscar-nominated performance being “unnecessary” to the film. Tomei’s Cassidy is a woman who, like The Ram, is engaged in a profession where her body is on display. As a stripper at a sleazy club, she struggles with the fact that her age is affecting her value. When she is with The Ram, she is confident, sexy, and funny. But when she is alone on the stage or trying to drum up private dances, the self consciousness is evident in her face. But unlike Randy, Cassidy understands and embraces the difference between the arena of her profession and the real world. She wants a different life for her and her son and plans are in the works to make that happen.

Rourke has created one of the most likable, funniest, and endearing characters in recent memory. Even when he’s sleeping in his van for being behind on his rent payments, he plays enthusiastically with the kids in his trailer park. He truly loves entertaining his fans and is good at it. At one of his matches, he gladly accepts the prosthetic leg of a fan to finish off an opponent. But one of the best scenes in the film is when his love of performing is put to the test when he has to work the deli counter at a supermarket wearing a hairnet. Talk about humility. But instead of wallowing in pity, The Ram embraces the job engaging in humorous banter with his customers, tossing out nicknames to them, and even playfully tossing them the meats that they have ordered. [Incidentally, in an NPR interview, Aronofsky has said that they didn’t have the budget to shut down the supermarket or even the deli counter for the film, so Rourke is working with the actual deli employees in this scene and actual customers. They were aware, obviously, of cameras filming them but did not know what they were for and most of them didn’t even recognize Rourke.]  More importantly, we empathize with The Ram as he searches for love and acceptance from Cassidy and Stephanie.

Aronofsky admits that this film is universal. Substitute wrestling with most other professions, and you will begin to understand what this film is about. He has talked about his conversation with a Dallas preacher in his 50s who is watching his congregation shrink while its members go to churches with younger pastors. This preacher has told his wife that he will continue to preach until there is “only one person left in the stands”. This preacher connected with The Ram and was moved to tears by the film.  I can’t say for sure why the film moved me as much as it did. One thing I do know is I will probably never see another movie where Guns N’ Roses’s “Sweet Child of Mine” will put a lump in my throat. Please give this film 115 minutes of your life and a chance for it to pin you to the mat also.