Generally films that gain a lot of acclaim in the mainstream press ultimately end up disappointing me.  Flicks like "Million Dollar Baby" and "No Country For Old Men" were marginally artsy movies that laymen could get behind, and their reputations snow balled on account of the fact that most people were not watching good movies, like:  "Juno" or "There Will Be Blood".

So on account of all the praise I had low expectations for "The Wrestler".  Expectations set even lower because it has Mickey Rourke working against it.  I hate Mickey Rourke. 

However,  I have nothing bad to say about the film.  Rourke is brilliant.  The story is crushing.  The characters are heartbreaking.  And the performances are disarming.  Marisa Tomei as the conflicted stripped with a heart of...well...brass, tackles wonderfully a difficult and compelling character whose feelings seem to run the gamut between hot and cold.  And Evan Rachel Wood as his estranged, pseudo-lesbian daughter also showcases a range of emotional accumin of a a thespian twice her age.