"The Wrestler" is a film about what happens to a superstar when the stage is packed up and the lights are turned off. The audience sees one thing, but the celebrity lives another, and one reality is much more gruesome than the other. Today, the media has all but nullified the concept of privacy for the very-famous, and we are often made privy to their personal meltdowns. But what about those stars who faded to the background?

Mickey Rourke plays Randy "The Ram" Robinson, a former big-shot wrestler in the vein of Hulk Hogan. Once watched by millions, time has eroded fame's luster and sent Randy's body into decay. His physique is chiseled and powerful, yet creaky and worn, with the engine powering the machine on the cusp of collapsing.

Most of us think of how we could have been better, but Randy gets to ponder how he went from a superstar to a joke. Surely he made millions, lived in sprawling houses, wore jewelry and snorted cocaine with movie stars. Now he gets locked out of his trailer and drives an ancient Dodge Ram decorated with an action figure of himself. In one scene he plays a Nintendo game with a local boy who has better things to do, and we understand his loneliness and loss is enormous.

Randy still wrestles, diving off the turnbuckle at middle school gymnasiums. The fans are still there, but in microscopic numbers. Matches for Randy go beyond the punch and body slam exchanges I adored in the early '90s. The participants slice themselves with razor blades, dive through barbed wire, and attack one another with staple guns. As Randy's constitution diminishes, the brutality of his sport perversely ramps up.

But worse than his physical and financial decline is the emotional chasm he has crafted, one that separates him from any relationship of sincere comfort or merit. Randy's only daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) resists his feeble attempts to reconcile with her, exhausted long-ago by his selfishness.

The only companionship Randy has is stripper Cassidy (Marisa Tomei). He forces an awkward bond with her. They're both performers, burdened by their professions. But even as Randy senses this, he's unable (or unwilling) to avoid acting like another fan. Cassidy's flattered by the attention of a man who once commanded the adoration of millions, but a has-been is more painfully pathetic than a never-was.

Director Darren Aronofsky coaches a performance out of Rourke that's especially heartfelt and pertinent. We sense his regret, though he seems confused about how he might have done things differently. His character earns virtually every moment of anguish, yet through Rourke's pathos it's heartbreaking to witness his decay. His only remaining strength is that he's capable of closing out on his own terms, which is sad, but perhaps better than dying slowly.

Review

'The Wrestler'

Starring: Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood

Director: Darren Aronofsky

Run time: 1 hour, 45 minutes

Rated: R, for violence, sexuality/nudity, language and some drug use

Now playing at: Crossroads

Four out of five stars