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Really good, but I wasn’t blown away by any means. Maybe I expected too much.

Mickey Rourke was spot on: perfectly deliberate and subtle in his choices, and the most sympathetic of Aranofsky’s protagonists to date. I believe it was restraint made ‘”Randy the Ram” possible as the slightest tendency to go over-the-top would have killed the whole film.

Marisa Tomei is awesome as usual and crazy hot naked to boot. For Mr. Skin fans and pervs, it’s probably worth going just to see her strip and if you’re on a date, don’t wear loose pants.

For me the problems started with a couple of cornball moments in the script took me temporarily out of the game just when I was getting comfortable suspending my disbelief.

I get the feeling from Mr. Aranofsky’s films that Darren, the man, may be at least slightly incapable of realizing his own emotions, and that’s why at times his characters seem emotionless or navigate a very expected range of emotions that he thinks that people (in life and in movies) are supposed to have, rather than ones that ring as heartfelt or unique to the character that’s been created.

The best scene of “Requiem” for me had nothing to do with dizzying camera moves, annoying genius sound design, dildos and shots of dilated pupils, but had everything to do with finally seeing the humanity in the lead characters. Kind of cloudy now, but if I remember it correctly, it was the scene where son and mother sit at the table, across from each other, recognizing their individual addictions in silence.

As with all of Aranofsky’s films for me, the journey of “The Wrestler” was nowhere near as sweet as the discussion that followed. I got more excited about the film on the drive home than I was while watching it. And although that says a lot about how affecting his work is, it also says something about how ineffective his films are in total. Maybe I’m a whiny dick, but I think the ride should be every bit powerful as the afterglow.

The last scene saved it for me though, specifically the last few shots, the big breath before the credits and the choice of closing song.

Perfect ending and the only ending possible as without defining the meaning of “The Ram’s” existence, there’d be no reason to make the movie at all.

Fuck. It really was good. And what do I know anyway? Okay, I liked it when I saw it, but I guess I love it now? Still not sure.

Guess that’s reason enough to go see it yourself.