The Circuit

by Dade Hayes
There's rarely such thing as a yawner at the ultra-selective, carefully curated New York Film Festival (though Opening Night's unspooling of "The Class" came perilously close). Still, even by its own elevated standards, Sunday's closing night gala screening of "The Wrestler" proved a singular event.

Even after a charmed start to its festival run -- the Golden Lion in Venice, a frenzy and Fox Searchlight pickup in Toronto -- New York loomed as a major date in the film's emergence. With a famously dense concentration of film snobs, both published and not, Gotham is often a high hurdle to clear en route to opening weekend. Searchlight knows this all too well, having bowed "The Darjeeling Limited" in Lincoln Center to decidedly mixed response one year ago.

Mixed was certainly not the word Sunday night. The film went over big, especially its jump-off-the-screen title performance by Mickey Rourke as broken-down wrestler Randy "The Ram" Robinson. Avery Fisher Hall had a double-espresso shot of energy, mainly because of the talent in the building.

Rourke, who nearly broke down during a Q&A session earler in the fest while reflecting on his long estrangement from Hollywood, was in a mellower mood. He worked the press line with near-Cruisian enthusiasm before the lights dimmed. Clad in all black with omnipresent tortoise-shell shades, basked in the lentghy ovations that bracketed the screening.

"Everyone, deep down inside, is a Mickey Rourke lover," said director Darren Aronovsky during a disarming intro. "It's been a long time since he's had a chance to show that he's got the goods."

Addressing the star directly, he said, "Thank you for honoring me with such an amazing performance."

Shrugged the Ram, "I had no choice."


Photo by Jemal Countess/WireImage.com.