Diner

Rating: R

Movie Release Date: March 5, 1982

DVD Release Date: April 4, 1999

Plot 411: Six best friends grow up and around the diner sharing experiences and memories to last a lifetime.

Review: This film featured a great ensemble cast of Mickey Rourke, Daniel Stern, Kevin Bacon, Paul Reiser, Tim Daly and Steve Guttenberg. The guys were so great in this film, which is about the lives of six twentysomethings in 1959. The group is so funny when they're together at the diner all squeezed into the booth. But, my favorite scene occurs when Daly's character lets loose at a strip club. It's awesome and not what you think. What I love most about this movie is that you can imagine these characters are still meeting up at that diner in 2009, 50 years after this snapshot of their lives was filmed. The bond between the guys is really touching - sort of the 50s version of a bromance. Rourke plays Boogie, a gambling playboy trying to find a way to pay off a $2,000 bet. He is really great in this role and how I'd like to remember him always. He makes Boogie charming and charismatic, with a voice that could convince you to do anything, yet still extremely likable and not conniving. Stern plays Shrevie, the first guy in the group to get married. Every group's got one and Stern does a good job at portraying the dichotomy between being single and married. Bacon plays a gross underacheiver, who seems embarrassed by his wealth and intelligence. His angst and desire to be independent from his family perhaps foreshadows his transformation into a 60s hippie. Reiser plays the comedian in the group, Daly the lovelorn college boy and Guttenberg the groom-to-be. This is definitely a must-see, especially because I think it really does a good job at showing us the time period. The score is filled with music selections from that era that help to really set the mood and take you back. I'm happy to say I knew more than 90% of the music played and enjoyed singing along. As a side note, I was shocked at how Reiser hasn't changed a bit since this film and how Daly seems to have gotten better looking with age.

Watch It: For a blast from the past, the soundtrack of your lives and great casting selection. The actors really fit their characters well and they all seemed so natural in them.

Skip It: If you're looking for something with a definite resolution. This movie depicts the lives of these guys between December 24, 1959 and January 1, 1960. You won't find a definite answer to some of the problems they face because they're still in the process of figuring it out. That's part of the genius of this film.

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The Wrestler

Rating: R

Movie Release Date: December 17, 2008

DVD Release Date: April 21, 2009

Plot 411: An over-the-hill wrestler forced into retirement faces it head on with a headbutt and dropkick, but he is the one that is beaten into submission when he realizes life outside the ring isn't what it's cracked up to be.

Review: Whoa, Mickey Rourke gives us a stellar performance as Randy "The Ram" Robinson, a wrestler whose prime has passed him by. Stuck at a job working for a boss that doesn't give him any respect and living a solitary life disconnected from his only daughter, Robinson retreats to the world of wrestling. Here he is a hero to the fans and other, much younger, wrestlers. Here he gains his sense of self-worth and struggles desperately to keep ahold of it. The movie left me with a heavy heart as Robinson's life seemed to fall all around him. Despite trying to leave the ring behind him, have fresh start with his estranged daughter and begin a romantic relationship with a stripper friend (played wonderfully by Marissa Tomei), he seems to get the timing all wrong. His slip ups or theirs makes it difficult to get off on the right foot. It's as if all the fates are against him. Everyone can relate to a time in their life when they've felt the exact same thing. The movie is gritty and raw. It's the real life that we all know exists but which never seems to be captured by Hollywood. This time they've done it up right.

Watch It: For a good portrayal of people just trying to survive in this world, find the meaning of their existence and make their dreams happen.

Skip It: If naked boobies offends you. There's a lot of that going on.

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