Pretty much everyone in attendance at the service in Jersey City last night (where the boxer trained) is of the opinion that Gatti did not hang himself in a Brazilian hotel room. Even a guy who has been hit in the head as many times as Mickey Rourke can see that. They aren't saying Gatti's wife is a psychotic killer or anything ... okay, maybe they are saying that.

Gatti's manager, Pat Lynch, has Brazilian lawyers on retainer and still hopes to put Amanda Rodrigues on trial in Canada (where Gatti lived and was buried) or another court in Brazil. Lynch says the investigation was "pathetic" and that Gatti would "never in a million years" have killed himself. He's not alone in that sentiment.

"Absolutely a hundred percent couldn't see him ever commit suicide," said Mike Skowrunski, Gatti's longtime assistant trainer. "He loved life. If he was going to kill himself, he would have called and said goodbye to me."

Isn't that what everyone says when someone they know commits suicide? "I would have know if he was sad!" Nobody ever sees it coming, which is kind of the point. Then again, that doesn't change the fact that Gatti's death and the ensuing police work was unbelievably shady and it does seem pretty likely that there was some foul play involved, even if it was accidental. That's Mickey Rourke thinks and he's a famous actor!

Actually, the words he used were "evil" and "bullshit." It takes him awhile to get to the angry cursing, but you knew Mick would come through in the end.

Mourners at Arturo Gatti's memorial service express disbelief that death was a suicide [Newark Star-Ledger]

One place I'm pretty sure there won't be a premiere: Iran, which has banned the movie. So I'm all for giving Harvey Milk his due, but is there any doubt that Rourke deserved the Best Actor Oscar over Sean Penn? Penn always looks like he's acting. As we see here, Rourke never does.

Fun Fact: Wrestle Jam '88, the Nintendo game played by Randy the Ram in the film, never existed: Until producers requested a fully functional game for the film. Which means that kid has the all-time high score, I guess.

Photo: Associated Press.

Celeb Pix: Run Angelenia Jolie, Run! [Contra Costa Times]
The Wrestler [The Will Leitch Experience]

The NY Times ran its second "Real-Life Wrestler"-piece in the last couple weeks. Unlike the Tito Santana story from Feb. 21st, this one about Jon Rechart, of Spring Lake Heights, N.J. is a little more similar to Randy "The Ram's" sad-sack narrative. Rechart, pictured in that photo, is 36 years-old, but could easily pass for 50. He no longer makes the big bucks, but at one point in his career, made six-figures wrestling as a scary Santa Claus character in the WWF/WWE Balls Mahoney of the late, great ECW. All he has left of that career is the battered body to show for it:

"I got a torn A.C.L. in one leg that I never got fixed. In '97, I broke my C2, C3 and C4 vertebras in the ring. A move went wrong and I got dropped on my head. Both rotator cuffs are shot. Every single day is a struggle with pain."

Mr. Rechart's forehead is a bulbous collection of scar tissue running from one side of his face to the other. He looks like a mugging victim.

"The scars are from forks, cheese graters, barbed wire, light bulbs, glass, beer bottles," he said, listing the various items opponents have used to attack him. "If it's not nailed down, I've been hit with it."

But remember the Real "Ram" is everywhere. Like in Chicago, where Jerry Lynn sees his life in Randy's. He says his story is a little more "feel-good" than the wrestler portrayed by Rourke. So that means his life is less interesting and only relevant for a quick, three-question q-and-a.

Hint to freelance writers: Go to your local V.F.W.'s depressing weekend wrestling spectacle, find the most mangled looking performer possible, ask him about "The Wrestler", then write 800 words on it. This story is eminently recyclable.

Faded Glory On The Wrestling Circuit [NY Times]

According to Men's Journal, via the New York Daily News, Rourke all but admitted that he beefed up chemically for the role, which has already won him a Golden Globe for best actor.

Mickey Rourke really did those backflips and rope dives in “The Wrestler,” but probably not without a little help. Though he doubled his daily 80-minute workouts with an Israeli cage fighter and ate seven meals a day, Men’s Journal reports that he most likely took steroids. When asked, Rourke said: “When I’m a wrestler, I behave like a wrestler.”

Ah, so that's what Roger Clemens was doing; method acting.

I don't claim to have enjoyed the film as much as a certain Prince Valiant-hairstyled former Deadspin editor — that may not even be humanly possible — but I do agree that it's a great movie; Rourke deserves all the accolades. Is there a separate Oscar category for getting your body punctured with a staple gun? There's also a perfectly lovely scene involving a deli slicer, which we don't see often enough in films these days. Needles, razor blades, staples, deli slicer: Wizard Cat gives this movie, six wands.

Oh, and in accepting his Golden Globe, Rourke thanked his two dogs. That is all kinds of awesome.

Mickey Rourke Alludes To Steroid Use In Last Movie [Graney And The Pig's Blog] (NSFW)
Celebrity Side Dish [New York Daily News]
Ten Things You Need To Know About The Wrestler [The New Yorker]

But ever year there's a movie that one William F. Leitch falls madly in love with just based on a trailer or a concept alone, then if the movie turns out to be everything he'd hoped it be, he becomes obsessed with it. One year it was "Punch Drunk Love"; this year, it's "The Wrestler" directed by Darren "Ass to Ass" Aronofsky and starring Mickey Rourke as a Randy "Macho Man" Savage-like character. Even though it's an odd premise, the film is inexplicably getting all sorts of Oscar talk right now. And, Will, of course, has vowed to pound this drum until everyone listens to him and Mickey Rourke gets his statue. (If you don't agree with this notion he will most likely say something along the lines of "I'm surprised you're able to walk upright" or something.) Somehow he kept his composure and pulled together "Ten Things You Need To Know About 'The Wrestler'" for New York magazine's Vulture blog. I admit, regardless of how awful an experience it is listening to him yammer about movies, he makes a compelling case for this one:

Rourke’s Randy “the Ram” Robinson was a star wrestler in the eighties, which means the whole movie is soundtracked by glorious, awesome hair metal, his preferred genre. Haven’t heard Accept’s “Balls to the Wall” in a long time? You’re in luck: The Ram rocks out, HARD. One particularly amusing exchange between the Ram and Marisa Tomei’s stripper, Cassidy, features the line, “The eighties fuckin’ ruled, man, till that pussy Cobain came and fucked it all up.” Expect to hear the soundtrack played ironically at Christmas parties on the Lower East Side.

And there are nine more of these.

Ten Things You Need to Know About The Wrestler [Vulture]