Ed Asner > WWE

Last night found yr humble correspondent severely over-caffeinated and trolling through the late night TV offerings for something to cudgel him into unconsciousness. On the verge of giving up and slumping over to the 7-11 for a can of Camo Black Ice (Camo is an anagram of COMA, and don't you forget it), I stumbled across The Wrestler, starring TV's Ed Asner and Vern freakin' Gagne (who, I'm fairly sure, is NOT the blond gentleman pictured at left).

Ah, ambrosia. While this cinematic epic is propelled by one of the creakier plots in human history (something about some underworld types wanting Ed Asner to fix a Gagne title match before the "Superbowl of Wrestling"), the real reward for Wrestler viewers is the plethora of high-end cameo talent on display: Dick Murdoch, Dusty Rhodes, Ric Flair, and even Vince McMahon Sr. display their considerable thespian chops.

Even the in-ring segments are fairly watchable, delivering a rich old-skool flavor while still zipping along at a brisk enough pace to avoid slowing down the already ponderous action. If only they'd replaced the gruesome love scene between Ed Asner and his cosmetic-happy co-star Elaine Giftos with the Dusty Rhodes tag match they keep hyping throughout the flick, they'd have a much stronger product and I'd have kept down that bowl of posole I scarfed during the commercials.

Still, these are minor (if nauseating) quibbles. The Wrestler is a top-notch artifact of wrasslin' history, and I urge the readers of Arabian Facebuster to check it out. Except for my mom. She probably won't be that into this.