A Work at Home Mom’s Blog

I’m not really known for my movie reviews. In fact, if memory serves me, I’ve never really done one before. But I watched a movie last night that was so awesome, I just had to share my thoughts on it. That movie was The Wrestler.

I’ve wanted to watch The Wrestler since it was in theaters, but it didn’t play in the tiny local movie house. When it came out on DVD, I stalked the Redbox incessantly, but I was never able to catch it before someone else snatched it up. I finally found it on HBO a few nights ago, but it was half over and I was feeling too bad to even watch a little of it. So I set the DVR to record the next showing, and finally got around to watching it last night.

Now, I’m a fan of professional wrestling, but I think I would have loved this movie even if I wasn’t. The story is that gripping, and the theme is something that I think we can all relate to on some level. I’ll share a brief synopsis, without giving anything away for those of you who haven’t seen it.

Mickey Rourke plays Randy “The Ram” Robinson, a wrestler who had his heyday in the 80s. In present day, he is still wrestling, but he’s not enjoying the fame or acclaim that he once did. He wrestles on weekends in a small local promotion, and works during the week at a grocery store. He finds himself locked out of his trailer park dwelling due to non-payment of rent, and must ask his condescending boss for more hours at his job.

As the stereotypical wrestler, The Ram spends a great deal of his income on pharmaceuticals. Not quick weight loss drugs, but steroids and other performance enhancers. He eventually succumbs to ill health, and is told by his doctor that he should never wrestle again. He proceeds to retire and tries to make connections with the people he cares about, but it never quite works out like he plans. He finally decides that he must return to wrestling, because the ring is the only place where he feels truly at home. And that’s where I’ll stop, because I don’t want to give away the ending.

Mickey Rourke was the perfect actor for this part. I read that Nicholas Cage was the first choice of the producers, and while I like Nick, the movie just wouldn’t have been as poignant with him as the lead. The story followed many Hollywood conventions, yet it still seemed fresh, and was certainly engaging.

I highly recommend this movie, not just to wrestling fans, but to anyone who loves a good drama. Enough said.

I haven’t been to the movies in ages, but there’s a movie coming out next month that I think might just change that. It’s called The Women, and it features an awesome cast that includes some of my favorite actresses: Meg Ryan, Debra Messing, Annette Bening, and Jada Pinkett Smith.

Although the cast is all female, this isn’t your run-of-the-mill chick flick. It takes a close look at two issues that are important to women: the definition of beauty and friendship. You can watch a great mini-documentary about the making of the film at Dove’s website.

The documentary features teen journalist Cammy Nelson (pictured above with director Diane English), a very smart young lady who has been involved with projects designed to promote self esteem in young women since the age of 12. She worked with Go Girls! and PeaceJam before teaming up with Dove to go behind the scenes of The Women. She toured the set and spoke with the actresses about their opinions on beauty. You might be surprised at their answers, which had nothing to do with outward appearance.

In addition to the documentary, you can read Cammy’s diary entries about her experiences on the set. There’s also a director’s diary written by Diane English about the making of the film.

My Take on Beauty and Friendship

As you may know from some of my previous posts, I think it’s very important for girls and women to realize that real beauty comes from the inside, and from the things that make us unique. But I don’t think I’ve touched on the subject of friendship very often.

In today’s impersonal world, fewer and fewer people have real friends. I can’t say that I have any that I talk to on a regular basis. Well, there’s Hubby, who is truly my best friend in every sense of the word. I can talk to him about anything, and he’s always there to comfort me when I’m down. But it’s nice to have female friends to talk girl talk with, and to do the things that the menfolk just aren’t interested in with. I guess I need to give some of my old friends a call, because I miss that. Maybe I’ll invite them to go see The Women with me.

So what do beauty and friendship have to do with each other? Well, your real friends will appreciate you for who you are, not what you look like. In high school, I had some “friends” who decided they didn’t want to be associated with me because I didn’t try to be a carbon copy of the popular girls. But to a real friend, things like that do not matter.

Win Tickets to See The Women

Want a chance to win free tickets to see The Women at a theater near you? Visit Dove’s website starting on September 3rd. They’ll be giving away 100 pairs of tickets. You can enter once a day between September 3rd and September 19th.