Well, this was a long time coming

For several different reasons. One I was reading a book I wanted to review, and two the movie I wanted to review was in limited release, so I had to wait until it opened a little wider so I could go and see it. I read the Bret Hart book and I watched the Wrestler, and I want to give you my opinion on both of them in this special Novak Notebook.

Let's first start off with the book, which I finished a little over a month ago. Let me start off by saying that I really enjoyed reading the book, and it was an interesting perspective because it wasn't a book that got the WWE stamp of approval all over it. Books like Hogan's, Flair's, or even Foley's, while some claim to be books that cover the backstage and what the WWE doesn't want you to see, most tell you how the WWE is a wonderful place to work and live and everyone sits around singing songs and roasting marshmellows. While the smart fans may know that to be untrue, a lot of people who aren't knowledgeable about the workings of things behind the scenes may come away thinking that the WWE is one big club where everyone gets along. There is nothing wrong with those types of books, as long as they are kept in the proper perspective. I don't blame the WWE for wanting to promote those types of books either, as it is trying to showcase itself the best way it can. So, when I bought the Bret Hart book, I expected something completely different and I was not disappointed.

The book goes through the usual beginnings and how everything started for Bret in the early days, and basically how he got a small shot here and there, but always seemed to end up back in Calgary with Stu Hart running Stampede Wrestling. He and the Dynamite Kid were the two bigger attractions, although there seemed to be quite a few wrestlers who toured through there and Bret seemed to gleen something from quite a number of them. He obviously has tremendous fondness for his years at Stampede Wrestling.

He later goes on and discusses his life in the WWF and WCW, both the ups and downs in each of them. It seems like he had mixed feelings about both, which would make sense considering what happened to him in both associations. He tries to hit some high points, but he does spend quite a bit of time on the lows he experienced with each of them. I'm not quite sure if he was trying to explain the controversy he had with each or merely tell his side of the story, or perhaps do a little bit of both.

Overall the book is an interesting read, but on some levels a disappointing one too. He had marriage problems, and to listen to him tell it, his wife was the devil who never talked with him, and that caused him to fly into the arms of other women. Now he doesn't always excuse this and even admits he felt guilty at times, but he also seemed to be saying, hey it was the times and that was the way it was. Also, he had a picture of another lady in the book whom he names in the picture but never talks about in the book, which was kind of odd. I assume it was his girlfriend at the time, but he never says anything. I also think he isn't with her anymore either, as of this writing. I mean, he essentially picked up a wrestling groupie, took her home, eventually married her, and it didn't work out. I fault him as much, if not more than her, but stuff like that happens in life.

I do applaud the fact that he addresses the drugs which were running rampant at the time. He talks about it, especially the Bulldogs, but I did have one concern. Did any of these guys ever confront any of the abusers and tell them they thought they needed help? It sounds like Bret was concerned about Davey Boy and Dynamite, and he would mention it from time to time, but that was about it. He would simply let them do their thing and go about being friends with them. Now, I'm not blaming him in any way, shape or form, because that was the nature of the beast back then, and being a man's man, most wrestlers wouldn't even dream of doing something like that, but it would make one stop and wonder if these guys intervened then, would we have as many deaths from all of these abuses as we do now?

The other main talking point was when he discusses Shawn Michaels. Now, he makes it very clear where he stands on Shawn and what he thinks of him, but I also believe Bret does this with a hint of pain. He realizes Shawn has tremendous talent, and is a very good worker but let politics and lying get in the way of his career. He has no use for him now, and it sounds like if they never speak to each other again, that would be fine by him.

Overall, the book was well thought out, but I think there were some slips with dates and things of that nature. That could be due to his concussions or his seizures he has had since his career has ended, or simply the fact that so many things blend together over time, it is tough to keep them all straight.

Now, Bret also seems like someone who loved what he did but is a bit bitter about where things are with him. I mean he says his life in the cartoon world of wrestling. That is a cheap shot and I don't understand why you would title something like along those lines if you were still passionate about what you did. It seems as if when his dad died, he was done with wrestling. He washed his hands of it, and has nothing left to say, which is a shame because he had a tremendous career to talk about. He does talk about his friends and some of the good times he had, but he also spends quite a bit of time on the backroom politics, dealing with HHH, Michaels, Hogan, and Flair. Its as if he wants to get as many shots in as he can. I was surprised that he was pretty good friends with Undertaker and Stone Cold.

The negative tone of the book wasn't a complete surprise but it did surprise me how much it took over the book toward the end. Also, I didn't see much in terms of self-reflection of things maybe he could've done differently to avoid situations. I mean he kept talking about not trusting Vince or Shawn, and yet there he was, trusting Vince and Shawn and being surprised when they do something to stab him in the back. I mean, what is the old saying...fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. So, I mean couldn't he see some of this coming? He even knew enough to talk to Hebner about a possible screw job, and then is surprised when it happens?? The other thing is, he really didn't talk about a whole lot of ideas of how to drop the belt another way, other than do it on RAW the next night or something like that. I can see both sides of the argument, because Vince didn't want his champ to do something like Alundra Blaze did, or even Ric Flair did with their belts. Also, Bret never said he wasn't going to do that or if he had been contacted to bring the belt with him. Don't know if he would, but sometimes you don't know until someone does something like that.

Bret didn't seem to say a whole lot of good things about WCW either. He had a few good things to say and like I said, talks more about the friends he had and few highlights before he delves into the strange things in WCW, along with the negative things they had been doing.

Like I said, the book is a good and interesting read, but be prepared for a quite a bit of negativity in his WWF years through to the end of his career. It is a quick and interesting read and well worth the time.

Now, moving on to the movie the Wrestler.

I really thought it was a good movie, well made and thoughtful of the topic of interest. Mickey Rourke did a great job and Marisa Tomei is completely smoking hot. She is over 40 and she is simply amazing. I could watch her all day, and she is still gorgeous after all of these years. Both do a great job, and the director does well in showing the struggles of independent wrestlers on the circuit.

I was in a crowded theater, and I could tell many of the viewers were not wrestling fans. They would gasp and mutter when they would show the matches, and especially after the matches when they had to put these guys back together. Using glue and tweezers to get stuff out of these guys, people in the audience were a bit squeamish. It was graphic and didn't hold back.

The drama was well done as well. Evan Rachel Wood was wonderful as Rourke's torn daughter. She wanted to be with her father, but couldn't stand his completely screwing things up time and again. It was well played out, as were the scenes in the deli where he worked. The only part I had a problem with was when he couldn't handle working in the deli and didn't do well with it. It was dramatic, but I think it was a bit over the top. They could've handled the same situation a little differently and kept the movie just as powerfully dramatic. But overall, the movie was solid all the way around, and any wrestling fan should definitely see it. Also, anyone who is a fan of Marisa Tomei who want to see what a 40 year old hot woman can look like, should definitely see it too.

So...until Marisa decides to give me a chance with a dance, keep reading ....sincerely the Novak Notebook.

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