Venice hails cinema's comeback king Mickey Rourke

www.reuters.com ^ | Sep 7, 2008 | Mike Collett-White and Silvia Aloisi

[Publius804]

Venice hails cinema's comeback king Mickey Rourke Sun Sep 7, 2008 6:32am EDT

By Mike Collett-White and Silvia Aloisi

VENICE (Reuters) - Eleven days of red carpet galas, 21 films in competition and countless interviews, photo calls and parties at the Venice film festival boiled down to just one man in the end -- Mickey Rourke.

The festival, which unofficially kick-starts the awards season leading to the Oscars, will be remembered chiefly for Rourke's performance in Darren Aronofsky's "The Wrestler", which the actor and critics agree is his best yet.

"The roar of Rourke" read the headline in the Corriere della Sera newspaper on Sunday.

The movie about an ageing wrestler who despairs as his body gives up on him and friends and family turn their backs, won the coveted Golden Lion award for best movie on Saturday.

[Publius804]

This looks like it could be an interesting film.

[redstateconfidential]

Mickey Rourke has said some positive things about Bush, even at the height of the Hollywood Gay Mafias loudest caterwauling and venal charges against Bush, for that reason alone I will gladly pay the $8 to see this at the theater.

[Tublecane]

I liked “The Pope of Greenwich Village”. Rourke wasw unlucky; the Brando/Dean style wears thin after you hit thirty. In order to stay on top Brando turned into a giant ego-maniac, and Dean died.

[Artemis Webb]

"I love hit men. No matter what you do to them, you don't feel bad."
--Mickey Roarke in Sin City

[Publius804]

I really liked Sin City!

[catman67]

I’ve always liked him. An actor that’s not afraid to take chances.

[PUGACHEV]

Mikey Rourke's path downhill was a little different. For whatever reason, he decided to resurrect his pro boxing career at the height of his Hollywood fame. At the same time he opened a bar on Washington Avenue in South Beach. Unfortunately, there is no quality cut in professional boxing; it's easy to get in over your head because you don't work your way up through the minors before stepping in the ring, anyone can cut a hole in a towel and have their face bashed in for a few rounds by someone who is really good at it. Those people are often referred to as "Tomato Cans", and pro boxing in the lower levels has room for an endless supply of Tomato Cans.

That's what happened to Mickey, and his good looks: his cheeks were crushed and his nose flattened. An attempt to correct the problem with cheek implants and plastic surgery left Mickey looking like The Joker without makeup. His film career languished until the surgery was redone and his face healed, and his bar went bankrupt.

[WackySam]

This looks like it could be an interesting film.

An Aronofsky film with Rourke in it, how could it not be?

[Tublecane]

If that’s all true, Rourke could have played demons and monsters, just like Brando ended up playing recluses who like to talk to themselves.

[Dr. Eckleburg]

Did his face come back with him?