9.The Wrestler
Darren Aronofskys gritty film about a washed up wrestler trying for a second chance is as much an allegory for his own career as it is the star and unfortunate-not-to-win-the-Oscar Mickey Rourke. While Rourke had fallen long before and was desperate for a way back to Hollywoods golden room, Aronofsky himself had had a series of films that didnt exactly set the world alight. They both came good though, working like a great tag team with this bloody affair. Mickey is Randy The Ram Robinson, a great wrestler in the 80s who now lives in a Caravan and survives off a part time job working at a deli counter and performing with amateurs and other wash-ups to tiny crowds in school gyms.
A health scare forces him to quit wrestling and reassess his life: he connects with stripper with a heart of gold Marisa Tomei and daughter Evan Rachel Wood, but struggles to turn his back on his old traits that lost him his family the first time and leads him back into doing what he does best.
The Wrestler captures the brutality, theatricality and also the interesting nitty-gritty details of the wrestling business, but never lets it become the real focal point; rather it allows the character of Randy and his struggles to do the right thing keep prominence. Rourkes transformation is incredible and the support he receives from Tomei and Wood equally worthy of praise.