Monday, January 12, 2009

How Badass Is Mickey Rourke?

It's hard to believe that this man was once considered to be one of the sexiest men alive. Back at the height of his cinematic career, in his "9 1/2 Weeks" days in 1986, Mickey Rourke was seen as Hollywood royalty. His breakout film, "Body Heat" (1981), spotlighted his sexy edge in what some dubbed as his, "scene stealing" performance as an arsonist in the film. Experts pondered the possibility of the dawn of the next James Dean or Robert Di Niro and for a brief time Rourke had Hollywood "by the balls". But his bad behavior behind the scenes; he soon became demanding and confrontational, coupled with his self-destructive tendencies (read here: drugs), sent his once rising Hollywood star into a declining tail-spin.

Rourke spent the better part of the last two decades in a handful of menial roles, never quite able to recapture his Hollywood glory. He returned to his roots as a boxer in the early 90's because, he says, "I had to go back to boxing because I was self-destructing. I had no respect for myself being an actor. So I went back to a profession which really humbled me."
Rourke suffered numerous serious facial injuries while in the ring, and a neurologist convinced him, or rather, forced him to retire. His once chiseled, handsome, actor face became horribly changed and his chance at a comeback in film dangled perilously in question.

In 2005 he had a minor career resuscitation in the 2005 movie "Sin City", and today possesses a Golden Globe Award winning performance as a washed-up, retired pro wrestler in "The Wrestler". Hollywood is buzzing about Mickey and Oscar.

I love a great comeback story and after last night, I made "The Wrestler" one of my top, must-see, movie choices. I must admit, I am more than intrigued by the humbling of this dude who has proven to be quite the enigma.

So I ask you today-Is Mickey badass or what?? Take my poll and let me know-and if you have seen "The Wrestler", I give you permission to write a full review (a la thumbs up or down) in the comments section of this post.

Could this at one time washed up, has-been actor bring home the Oscar?? I, for one, can't wait to find out.

16 comments:

Heff said...

Haven't seen "The Wrestler", but I'm GOING TO.

Verdant Earl said...

Rourke is bad-ass and I want to see The Wrestler, but I probably won't until I can get the DVD.

The Golden Globes are a sham, by the way.

Bella@That damn expat said...

Sorry, I really don't have an opinion on him. Maybe I will after I see The Wrestler, I'll let you know.

In other news, I tagged you!

April Hunsaker said...

Haven't seen the Wrestler, but really, could he outdo himself after 9 1/2 weeks? Even that movie's title is still a turn on!

Ed The Sports Fan said...

Heard the movie was going to be pretty good, looking forward to seeing it...

-Ed.
www.edthesportsfan.com

Slyde said...

hes totally badass.

he basically admited over the weekend that, to be more like a real wrestler, he took steroids to bulk up for the role.

i really want to see that movie.

plus, marissa tomei is naked in it.

You've got me thinking about those red boots again....

Ugly Scott said...

i haven't seen the movie (local theaters have filled their screens with crap), but i'm looking forward to it. i loved him as bukowski in barfly, and for that performance he will always be badass. marissa tomei is badass too.

Tash said...

Nice to know that an actor can re-surface without the help of Quentin Tarantino.

(Assuming he had no hand in the Wrestler of course. I'm sorry, I can't be bothered to perform a Wikipedia or IMDB fact check on that)

slopmaster said...

I'll get it on DVD, which this the only way I can get it here. Luckily there are tons of bootlegs where I am so it won't be a problem.

My vote is that he is a total badass.

Scope said...

Don't need to see "The Wrestler" to know Rourke is bad-ass. Saw "Sin City". If that doesn't define bad-ass, I don't know what does.

Greg said...

He was pretty awesome-slash-badass in Spun... although the movie overall was kind of weird.

~E said...

Me thinks Mr. Rourke should lay off the botox and scalpel routine in favor of aging a little bit less gracefully but a lot less scary.

...

pure evyl said...

The Wrestler is definantly on my to watch list. I have always thought that he was one hell of an actor even in his B movies. He was damned good in Once Upon A Time In Mexico and thought that would help pick his career back up. Can't wait to see how he will do in Iron Man II.

The Lady Who Doesn't Lunch: said...

I'm glad he finally got a good role. He's a good actor and I was starting to feel kinda sorry for him and his beat up boxer face.

Anonymous said...

i didn't think Mickey Rourke would ever show up in public again, then there he was, winning big at the Golden Globes

John D. said...

Mickey's pretty badass. He's lived a hard life and been humbled, I think. Did you know that Kim Basinger HATED - H-A-T-E-D - working with him in "9 1/2 Weeks"?