Randy ‘The Ram’ Robinson is a wrestler who is still wrestling even though he’s past his prime. He rose to prominence in the 80s and yet, 20 years on from this, he is still venturing into the ring. He only wrestles on a weekend these days and works at a local supermarket during the week to survive and pay the rent on the trailer he lives in. He also likes to spend some of his downtime at a local strip joint and has his eye on one of the performers there, Cassidy.

After suffering a heart attack, Randy is forced to reflect on his own mortality. He decides to try and reunite with his estranged daughter who fell out with him as she claims he was never there for her throughout her life. Randy decides to quit wrestling full-stop and starts to work at the supermarket more.

But things don’t go to plan. Cassidy rejects him, he fails to show up to take his daughter to dinner which creates another rift after they had seemingly built bridges again and he quits his job after being recognised and demeaned by a wrestling fan. Randy decides to become a wrestler again and participate in a big match even though the fight could kill him.

Darren Aronofsky’s film was released at a time when I was going to local wrestling matches here in Yorkshire. I was travelling to exotic locations such as Wakefield (or ‘Wakey’ as us Yorkshire folk refer to it) to see matches (I was even banned from Wakey by a policeman on one occasion I was there for urinating in an alleyway after seeing that the local public conveniences were closed. But that, as they say, is another story for another time…) These matches were low-key, took part in small venues such as Working Men’s Clubs just like the settings Randy performs in in the film so this all brought back so many memories for me.

I’m so glad this film was made about, firstly, a sport which is so working class and blue-collar in its fan demographic and also because it shows what happens when somebody is past their peak and the aftermath of this. In other words- reality!  I love the fact that this is done in such a non-emotional way with the camera merely recording what happens. It’s almost like the film holds a documentary-type quality for most of its runtime.

But whilst Ram’s decline is depicted there is plenty of humour in the film. Witness the shopping expedition Ram and his wrestling buddy undertake in which they shop for items such as pots and pans to use during matches to smash their opponents with. It’s very funny especially when they use some of these items on the cashier to show that they really don’t hurt.

But there are also shocking elements regarding these matches. The razor blades that Ram conceals and uses mid-match to make his face bleed all in the name of entertainment and to give the audience what they want. There is also the gruesome use of thumb tacks and staples during one such match. We see these being painfully removed after the show in a sequence that really is hard to watch. We also hear Ram describing the various war wounds he’s suffered all in the name of wrestling. It reminded me of the Quint and Hooper scene from Jaws in which they describe the various shark-related injuries they’ve suffered. These matches may look like staged hokum but they do have consequences, all under the guise of entertainment for a crowd in a local community centre. The film also depicts a topic that’s still an elephant in the room in the wrestling world and that is the use of steroids with Ram getting his from a friend in the wrestling fraternity.

Ram’s reunion with his daughter is brilliantly handled and done so without the usual Hollywood schmaltz. I kept thinking of the Rocky franchise and how they would have depicted similar events. There is no melodrama or over-emoting but just reality in its ‘warts and all’ glory and is so much better for it. There are uniformly fantastic performances in the film but special mention must be given to Mickey Rourke who gives a career-defining turn as Ram. He really is terrific in the role.

The sadness of Ram’s situation and the whole film is encapsulated in the final scenes in which Ram realises that he’s only really happy in the wrestling ring and steps back in for the big match that he had previously cancelled due to his heart attack. The fact that the match might kill him is neither here nor there for him. He explains that he can only wrestle and can only function in the ring rather than outside of it.

And it’s this wider world that the film lifts the lid on. It’s a soulless world of trailer parks with asshole landlords lacking any kind of understanding or empathy, dead-end jobs with vile managers who share the same lack of attributes as the aforementioned landlords and also resplendent with demanding customers who never seem to be satisfied (witness the woman who repeatedly wants more and then less of the product she’s ordering from Randy at the deli counter). The only source of escape and glamour is the make-believe world of the local strip joint. It’s no wonder Ram wants to stay in the wrestling ring which is corrosive to his physical and mental health and could end up actually killing him.

The film presents the reality of both the wrestling world and its consequences whilst the performers try to give the punters what they want (extreme entertainment whatever the costs. The more blood and pain, the better. The shows really are comparable to modern-day gladiator tournaments). But it also shows the harsh realities away from the ring. It’s a fantastic piece of work.

4.5 stars out of 5