Year in Review: Addendum

I have just been able to see Che and The Wrestler, both of which feature tremendous, transcendent lead performances that jump off the screen. Both easily are some of the year's best, probably clocking in the top 10. With that said, consider my new top ten something like this.

10. The Wrestler
9. Rachel Getting Married
8. Che
7. Paranoid Park
6. Revolutionary Road
5. Vicky Cristina Barcelona
4. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
3. Wall-E
2. The Dark Knight
1. Milk

This knocks Man on Wire and Doubt just out of my top 10 of the year.

Che's brilliance lies in its refusal to play by typical biopic conventions. It may rub some the wrong way that it doesn't have the big emotional payoff that one typically likes after 4 hours and 20 minutes (no lie) but the depth of ideas pervade the film. It's first half (which details Guevara's role in the Cuban Revolution) works better than the second but both are wonderful returns to form for Steven Soderbergh and are easily his best work since Traffic. Benecio Del Toro is absolutely amazing, giving a soulful, intelligent performance that has been terribly overlooked due to the film's length, which has prohibited it from being shown outside of major cities up to this point. As someone who finds Che a fascinating figure, the film gripped me from the outset, with Soderbergh's guerilla style filmmaking beautifully complementing the narrative and themes.

For The Wrestler, its easy to see why everyone is so crazy for Mickey Rouke's performance which is wonderful in every way. Humorous, heartbreaking and entirely human, Rouke brings a vitality to the screen that was only matched by Sean Penn's work in Milk and perhaps Del Toro in Che. A resonant drama that holds something for many, this is much more than just a wrestling film and in many ways, is the Raging Bull for wrestling. In other words, one need not be interested in the sport (or entertainment depending on how you view it) of wrestling, only in in-depth examinations of human struggle. Rourke deserves every bit of his Globe win and Oscar nomination. If the Oscar ends up going to either him or Penn, consider this writer content.