“The Book of Eli” Opens another Chapter of End of the World Films edited by Michele Ristich Gatts

I saw behind-the-scenes footage of “The Book of Eli” about seven to eight months ago. I remember thinking it was going to be a cool movie with action. Maybe I built up my own hype for the movie.

The movie stars Denzel Washington, who has done previous action films, such as my favorite film, “Man On Fire.” In “Eli,” he plays the title character -- a traveler in a post apocalyptic world (which means the world is a wasteland of burned out cars and dead bodies). Eli has been traveling for a long time, carrying a book of importance, and he is heading west.

According to the story, the world had been burned by a flash. There were survivors who are now dirty, wearing sunglasses and struggling to live.

“The Book of Eli” marks the return of co-directors the Hughes Brothers (“Menace To Society,” “Dead Presidents,” “From Hell,”) who have taken some nine years off from filmmaking.

The film has a bleached out look. Eli enters a town with the feel of a western as everyone is staring him down. The only difference between this film and a western is instead of riding a horse into town, Eli walks in.

Of course, Eli cannot be left alone, and he is challenged by someone who he quickly disposes of. That in turn means that Eli must take out a few men with a huge machete to demonstrate his point of wanting to be left alone. The fight scenes in the film are very good with the use of shadows and long shots.

Some parts were too slow, as the film tried to explain what was happening. I did really like the fight scenes. Denzel was great as the saintly man with a mission from a voice that could be God’s.

The problem with the most post apocalyptic movies there is always the message that the world did something to evoke the wrath of God. I don’t know what could have be done to make “The Book of Eli” a great film like “Mad Max,” which was crazy insane and over the top. “The Book of Eli” was too under the top.

“The Wrestler” Takes You To The Mat And Leaves You There.

“The Wrestler” is a haunting look at the world of wrestling, not the glamour of Wrestle-mania where the lights are bright and the stage is in a huge arena but where the lights are dim and the ring could be in a VFW or American Legion hall or a high school gymnasium.

The film’s story centers around Randy “The Ram” Robinson, an aging wrestler played by Mickey Rourke. The Ram had his hey days in the 80’s who is still a fan favorite who is twenty years past his prime and doesn’t know it. He doesn’t have much money and lives in a trailer.

When Ram suffers a health setback and is forced to try to build a new life by reconnecting with a long abandoned daughter, Stephanie played by Rachel Evan Wood and taking a job at a supermarket deli. He has a hard time leaving the wrestling life behind.

Trying to help him cope is Cassidy, a sympathetic stripper played Marisa Tomei whose smile lights up the screen and melts your heart. Tomei is deservedly nominated for an Academy Award for “Best Supporting Actress” in the film.

What makes Rourke’s performance so memorable is that Ram is a good hearted guy who is very nice and fatherly to the up and coming wrestlers and trying to deal with being in trapped in human prison cell that has no bars, no walls but he can’t find the key to set himself free.

“The Wrestler” is an unflinching look at a man’s life. The film feels like a documentary because we (the audience) are following Ram around everywhere he go but he doesn’t know we are there. We want to help him but we can’t.

The makeup people on the film have to be given kudos for making Rourke’s body look rough and having the scars of years being in the wrestling wars.

There is an absolutely wonderful scene between Ram and Stephanie that is so heartfelt it will give you a lump in your throat and a tear in your eye.

So, far Rourke has been acknowledged for his acting effort in “The Wrestler” by winning a Golden Globe and BAFTA, the British Academy Award for “Best Actor” and was nominated for a Screen Actors Award (SAG). Up next, he is nominated for an Oscar for “Best Actor.”

In most cases, the actor is rewarded and the film’s director is left behind. “The Wrestler”’s director, Darren Aronofsky did an amazing job of bringing this story to the screen with the revealing close-ups, gritty camerawork and wrestling sequences that take you into the ring . The casting of Mickey Rourke was a stroke of genius.

“The Wrestler” smacks you in the head and the heart with a man’s pain, his desperation and his fleeting grasp for life.


The Wrestler is playing locally in at Tinseltown in Boardman

Sources: imdb.com, Wikipedia, yahoo movies, Variety.com