Miscellaneous

Mickey Rourke: Really Not that Cool

Look: I love a good comeback story as much as the next guy, and if you've seen The Wrestler, you know that Mickey Rourke deserves a lot of accolades for his work. But what seems to be forgotten in the midst of this huge career rebound is one simple thing: Mickey Rourke is a dick. The man has always been a dick. And much of the career turmoil he had he brought upon himself. He's always been a decent actor, but I actually have vague recollections -- way back in the day -- of what kind of guy he was (Kim Basinger, for one, loathed him, and despised every day she spent on the set of 9 1/2 Weeks). He's also been charged, in the past, for spousal abuse. And part of the reason that he's so good in The Wrester is because he plays a dick. I appreciated his performance, but there wasn't a second in the movie where I sympathized with his character. He was playing himself: A selfish motherfucking prick.

Anyway, the point is: Our friend, Mr. Last, pointed to this article about Mickey Rourke with the line, "And the Oscar goes to Sean Penn in Milk." Clearly, Last -- who is a bit on the conservative side, and who has spoken hilariously about Sean Penn's role in Milk being completely critic-proof from the liberal perspective because of who he was playing (and he's right about that, to some degree) -- was being sarcastic. Last made the comment in the context of a few off-the-wall comments that Rourke delivered in London, essentially sympathizing with George W. Bush.

"I don't give a f**k who's in office, Bush or whoever, there is no simple solution to this problem... I'm not one of those who blames Bush for everything. This s**t between Christians and Muslims goes back to the Crusades, doesn't it.

"It's too easy to blame everything on one guy. These are unpredictable, dangerous times, and I don't think that anyone really knows quite what to do."

Rourke also confesses he was so angry after 9/11, he wanted to fight the war on terror himself.

He adds, "I'm not politically educated. But I do know that after 9/11 I wanted to go over there, you know what I'm saying?"

And the star is baffled by the U.K.'s approach to fundamentalists - insisting he was taken aback by the freedom of speech allowed in the U.K.

He explains, "I was in London recently and I couldn't believe all these hate-talking fanatics you have over here who are allowed to carry on doing their thing even when a bus full of women and children gets blown to pieces.

"I know you've deported one or two of them, but it seems crazy. I think there is worse to come, something terrible will happen to either America or the U.K., or France even. I don't think these fundamentalists should be allowed to talk all this crap, and brainwashing these young kids."

Taken aback by freedom of speech? This from the dude who starred in Angel Heart and 9 1/2 Weeks and Wild Orchid. I do believe the drug use and the facial reconstruction surgery the man had has gone to his head.

Anyway, I know he's only recently returned to the scene in a big way (along with The Wrestler, he was good in Sin City), but I'm actually tired of the comeback already. Good people deserve comebacks. And I just don't think that Rourke was, is, or ever will be good people. And it's not just because he's sympathetic to W.

Full post as published by Quiz Law on January 14, 2009 (boomark / email).