8. The Wrestler (2008) - Dir. Darren Aronofsky
This film came out of nowhere and collectively took away the breaths of both audiences and critics. People loved the idea of a down on his luck bum, getting that one last shot at redemption, in both the character of Randy "The Ram" Robinson, but also of actor Mickey Rourke who, through a series of questionable career choices had found himself unemployable in the Hollywood circuit. The Wrestler plays like a true grit version of the final Rocky film, where we have a washed out athlete who uses his fame to cash in on former glories. Though unlike Rocky Balboa which has a Hollywood sheen to it, this film captures the startling realism of the professional wrestling circuit and how their former stars are forced to eke out a living once their bodies have failed them. The sucker punch of an ending comes when Randy, after failing to make amends with all the people he's burned and despite his heart condition, decides to have that one last shot at glory and during a rematch with his Apollo Creed, performs his signature move, The Ram Jam, a flying leap from the turnbuckle onto a downed opponent. He succeeds, the crowd looks ecstatic and it fades to black. This is no spinning totem of an ending, it's incredibly clear that the leap has killed him, it was his choice to go out a hero and in the spotlight. What seems almost like darkly upbeat ending, is actually really saddening. A man finds it too difficult to get over his glory days and chooses what boils down to suicide, in a room of almost a hundred people. He couldn't recapture his former glory and chose to kill himself, rather than live in a world that had no place for him. It's worth digging out the documentary Beyond The Mat, for a look at the physical anguish that professional wrestlers suffer from due to extremities that they are putting their bodies through daily.