The Wrestler – A Review

You know how, even if you know a Springsteen song is rote, it doesn’t matter? Like when you hear the first verse, and it’s about how “[Joey] lost his job at the [docks/car plant/box factory]” and “[Mindy] got pregnant” that same week and “[Joey’s] smokin’ a cigarette and [embodying blue-collar America]… dah dah dah.” And you know it’s just Bruce slapping all the clichés together… that all his songs sound the same and you really should’ve quit listening after Born to Run. But you well-up anyway. That’s what watching The Wrestler is like. It’s not the song; it’s the voice. We’re all suckers for Bruce.