The Unofficial Biography of Nature Boy Ric Flair

Mickey Rourke is a creepy looking dude. This is not something that’s up for debate. He’s a trainwreck of a man with a worn out saddlebag for a face and where he seemed smarmy and dangerous in his younger days he’s now broken and bruised. But somehow he's still dangerous. I was ready for him as a leathery creep in The Wrestler but I was not prepared for how sweet and funny he was able to be too. His incredible performance vacillated between animal rage, timid schoolboy, damaged self abuser and kindly old man and certainly deserved all the accolades heaped upon it.

He was pretty stunning in the film but overall I was less than moved. The whole Marisa Tomei storyline did little for me and her mousy countenance annoyed me whenever it was on screen. I also didn’t buy the whole sidebar with his daughter. I give it a 5.

I’ll agree about the daughter storyline (featuring the overrated Evan Rachel Wood from the horrendous Thirteen) but the rest of it really resonated with me. I loved watching his character in this movie. My heart went out to him and I still get choked up thinking about some of the more emotional or harrowing scenes.

Like the extreme wrestling match?

Exactly. That’s the kind of thing that wakes me up at night with the cold sweats. I couldn’t get that scene out of my head for weeks and to me it epitomized the bottomless depths people can let themselves get sucked down into. Absolutely soulcrushing.

Best part of the film.

You are a sick, sick wheel.

What can I say? I was raised on wrestling and this was the part that rang the most true for me. I started off with WWF but soon found it too hacky and naturally gravitated towards the grittier and more “realistic” NWA featuring such luminaries as the Great Muta and Norman the Lunatic. I remember one match where a plastic bag was put over someone’s head and then they were clubbed on the shin with a metal pipe. Now that’s wrasslin'.

That’s horrifying. I liked the more human scenes like when he was working at the deli counter or challenging the neighborhood kid to some video game battles. My favorite moment may have been when he nearly lost his mind over “Round and Round.”

You simply can’t go wrong with Ratt. Their music worked magic in Point Break and it does wonders here too. If this movie had focused more on party rock and 2x4’s to the head it would have rated a 10 but the director seemed to try to marry awesomeness and an art film and ended up with not enough of either. Whoever put this YouTube video together understands what pure entertainment is. Enjoy.