Darren Aronofsky is a good filmmaker, there isn't much debate about that. His usual subject of choice is about hopeless characters and their spiral down into insanity. Requiem for a Dream, for example, while a good film, is a piece I can only watch a handful of times over several years. I saw the trailers for The Wrestler, though, and thought it might be a departure from his usual stuff. I was wrong, but I still think it's his best film yet.
This is another film that's chosen to shoot prodominantly with a handheld camera. The look makes it feel like a documentary and that you are actually following this guy around through his daily life. It makes everything more gritty, but also more painful to watch when you feel like you're in the room when he has his heart broken several times throughout the movie. The world of the working man (and woman) is dripping from this film in a way that can only be found in rural New Jersey. It's dramatic, sad, heartfelt, but real.
One exemplary scene is in the beginning of the film when we first see the main character living in his mobile home. The camera never strays more than a few feet away from him. Because it is handheld, it has the freedom to stay at a medium or close up shot and move around with the actors. This also sets up how uncomfortably close the audience will be with this man for the following two hours.
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