Mickey Rourke had me at Barfly, Rourke's 1987 film in which he co-starred with Faye Dunaway as two co-dependent alcoholics. I've long considered this one of Rourke's best films as well as one of the most underrated in Hollywood cinema. A renegade tough guy, he's been a gym rat/boxer and his pre-Hollywood bad habits did not bode him well after he achieved fame and fortune. Rourke began turning down more roles than accepting, in films on which he should not have passed. Labeled difficult early on, Rourke eventually passed the point at which producers and directors finally decide an actor just isn't worth the trouble to work with. Although "El Marielito", his boxing nickname, worked consistently in film throughout his career and briefly turned to professional boxing in the early 90's. The films, however, were less than exemplary and Rourke seemed to sink deeper and deeper into cinema obscurity, known more for his scrapes with the law than his contribution to acting. The tide began to turn for Rourke a few years ago with a role in Sin City and came to a mid-career surge last night at The Beverly Hilton when he accepted the Best Actor award at the Hollywood Foreign Press Golden Globe awards for his role in The Wrestler. In his acceptance speech, this tough, scrapping, mongrel kinda-dude of a guy, punctuated his thank-yous by recognizing some folks near and dear to his rough-and-tumble heart: "...I'd like to thank all my dogs, the ones who are here-- the ones that aren't here anymore. Because sometimes when a man's alone, that's all you got is your dog and they meant the world to me...". As I sit here typing, uncharacteristically early on a very cold Connecticut morning with a Boston Terrier named Tug curled up on my lap, I couldn't agree more with Mr. Mickey Rourke. Nor could I feel more akin with another human being whom I have never met. Congratulations, Mr. Rourke-- from all my dogs, to you and yours.
