As The Wrestler Likes It

Movies mashed: The Wrestler (2009) and As You Like It (2007)

So, what does Mickey Rourke have to do with Shakespeare? About as much as ninjas have to do with Shakespeare, and that didn’t stop Kenneth Branagh from putting them in his movie!

I guess you could say The Wrestler is a tragedy, and that’s like Shakespeare with his kings and such. But The Wrestler details the rise and fall of Randy “The Ram” Robinson, a professional wrestler working the East Coast, appearing in high school gymnasiums and community centers, scratching out enough pay to almost cover food, drink, the rent on his trailer, and the money to cover the lap dances he gets from aging stripper Cassidy (Marisa Tomei). The parallels between Randy and Cassidy are almost too pat. Both are stuck in careers that favor the young, both have a child who serves to reflect their own ambitions and mistakes, both are walking a precarious line between survival and collapse.

However, the characters are completely believable, with problems and quirks that everyone has seen in family member or friends, if not in their own lives. America isn’t kind to the old, and who can blame The Ram for clinging to the glory days of his youth? His desire to stay in the ring is even more understandable when the audience sees how comfortable he is in that world – in fact, it’s the only place where he can function normally, sure of his place and his responsibilities. The genuine affection and respect rendered by the other players in the wrestling scene show that Randy isn’t crazy for sticking around this long, either.

However, the lifestyle eventually catches up with him, forcing Randy to grudgingly evaluate his choices and attempt to redefine himself. But the lure of the familiar proves strong, and watching Randy struggle with the options available to him provides the most heartbreaking moments of the story. Mickey Rourke’s performance is the heart and soul of The Wrestler, and his own life story is what makes the film feel eerily like a documentary at times. Whether it’s your type of film or not (and it’s not mine), it’s still worth a look.


Okay, let’s get to the ninjas. That’s right, I said ninjas! As You Like It is already one of Shakespeare’s most off-beat, wackadoo comedies. It’s got a Fool, a girl in drag, several cases of mistaken identity, people running about in a forest for political reasons, and a dude who writes sonnets and nails them to trees. Weird, huh?

Well, director Kenneth Branagh dials the weird up to eleven by relocating the story to 19th century Japan, during the time that rich Western merchants imposed their will and culture on the existing Japanese world. Whatever. That’s not really important. The Japanification of the story serves primarily as a way to have well-worn characters traipse through a new background, wear exceptionally pretty clothes and orate in front of more bamboo than is usual in Shakespeare. Also, ninjas. Branagh takes advantage of the vagueness of the play’s original beginning (it starts out after the good Duke has already been banished and has fled into the Forest) to present a wordless reenactment of the coup that deposed the Duke in the first place. And the coup involves ninjas. I love this movie starting now.

So the ninjas drive virtually all of the good characters in to the Forest of Arden (how’s that look in hiragana again?) However, because the “Forest of Arden” was never a historical place, it doesn’t really matter whether it’s in England or Japan. Arden is Nature, and once the characters enter the Forest, they become subject to different rules – rules that encourage them to explore the nature of romantic love, man’s state of grace, and what it means to be happy.

For the Duke’s daughter Rosalind (the ridiculously cute Bryce Dallas Howard), exile means a chance to take advantage of her disguise (she’s dressed as a boy for safety, presumably) to chat up Orlando, the man she’s in love with (also exiled, in a separate incident) and discover his views on romance and women. Meanwhile, the Bad Duke (the one behind the ninja coup) is desperately seeking his own daughter Celia, who has run off to the forest with her best friend Rosalind in a show of solidarity. And then Orlando’s evil brother Oliver shows up for political/personal reasons of his own, only to have his plans derailed at the first sight of Celia. Got all that?

Don’t worry. It’s a Shakespearean comedy. It’ll all work out in the end. Branagh’s version, which was aired on HBO, is actually a wonderful interpretation. Having seen a few stage adaptations of As You Like It (as well as an older film version), I can say with confidence that good source material is no guarantee of a good final product. However, Branagh’s As You Like It balances respect for the story with a desire for innovation, and that equals a happy ending. And ninjas.

The Wrestler: really sad.

As You Like It: really cute!