“The Wrestler,” 22 January 2010 (2008), DVD. We both liked this 2008 look at a professional wrestler in decline. Mickey Rourke (he’s fantastic) and Marissa Tomei (marvelous) star as Randy “The Ram” Johnson a 1980s star long dimmed (much like Rourke himself who brings great sensitivity and courage to essentially playing a version of himself on screen) now making the high school gym circuit, working with local and regional wrestlers (young and old), still listening to heavy metal, and getting by working in a supermarket. Tomei is a single-mom exotic dancer (Cassidy, nee Pam) still trying to do something with herself She’s quite beautiful as a dancer but is just a normal when out in daylight. A heart attack forces Randy, nee Robin, to confront his realities—including an attempt to reconnect with his estranged daughter—and part of that is trying to connect with Pam. This is a brutal, dignified, sad and sympathetic film about all parties in these ‘games’ (except most consumers at deli counters). The wrestlers’ genuine affection for one another is embedded with respect, real admiration and caring. The injuries and damage to their bodies and souls are real even if the matches are pure psychodramas for a bloodthirsty crowd that genuinely admires these men as heroes and yet pushes them to ever more extreme, self-destructive, and perverse stunts. Nominated for an Oscar Horrifying wrestling matches, sensitive directing and acting, with a sad and not over-the-top melodrama to it. A wrestling “Star is Born?”