REEL CRITIC:

The history of motion pictures is rife with stories, both fact and fiction, that tell of the meteoric rise and precipitous fall of those it made famous. Huge stars become has-beens seemingly overnight as the tabloid press seeks to exploit every personal and professional failing to feed the public’s apparent insatiable appetite for misery.

Few promising actors have fallen faster or farther and manifested more bizarre behavior than Mickey Rourke. In the 1980s Rourke seemed poised to become a true superstar. During that decade Rourke starred in such memorable films as “Diner,” “Rumblefish,” “The Pope of Greenwich Village,” ”Nine ½ Weeks,” “Barfly” and “Wild Orchid.”

By the 1990s Rourke saw himself as a “sellout” and reportedly became erratic and very difficult on the set. He also had a volatile relationship with his “Wild Orchid” costar Carre Otis, who at one time accused him of physical abuse. It was also during this period that Rourke spent five years pursuing a professional boxing career. Unable to compete against younger, better trained fighters, the game actor took horrendous beatings that resulted in numerous facial injuries. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Rourke returned to acting but was relegated to bit parts and low-budget films.

As much as Hollywood relishes stories of how the mighty have fallen, it may enjoy tales of redemption and salvation even more. Rourke began his return to mainstream Hollywood with his role as Marv in “Frank Miller’s Sin City” in 2005. However, this year’s lead role in “The Wrestler” has momentarily at least returned Rourke to the A-list.

“The Wrester” is a gritty story of professional wrestler Randy “The Ram” Robinson (Rourke). Once a headlining professional at major venues across the country in the 1980s, the battered 40-something grappler now subsists by wrestling on the independent circuit. Barely eking out a living on his share of the gate, the Ram lives in a dilapidated trailer from which he is intermittently barred for not paying his rent.

Randy thinks he might have one last big payday as a promoter has offered him a rematch with the Ayatollah, a mock Iranian villain with whom he had his biggest match 20 years prior. Unfortunately, before the event takes place Randy has a massive heart attack after enduring a horrific match in which his opponent employs a staple gun, thumbtacks, barbed wire and broken glass.

After Randy is told his wrestling days are over, he takes a menial job at a market deli counter and goes about trying to mend his shattered personal life. Randy contacts his estranged daughter, Stephanie (Evan Rachel Wood), and attempts to overcome her hostility and feelings of abandonment. The other woman in Randy’s life is Cassidy (Marisa Tomei), an aging stripper and single mother. Randy tries to reach out to Cassidy even though he has never talked to her outside the club.

Randy’s relationship with Cassidy is made even more poignant by the similarity in their careers. Both play to an audience and are seen as a devalued commodity. The difference is that Randy, who has no friends but a few broken-down veteran wrestlers, craves the adulation of his fans while Cassidy loathes her clientele.

The parallels between the lives of the Ram and Rourke are eerie. Both have slipped from the pinnacle of their respective professions and crave a way back. Rourke has said the role of Randy Robinson is so close to home he considered not taking the part. Rourke has stated he regrets many of his past decisions and hopes for redemption in the eyes of his profession and the public.

Rourke has achieved redemption, at least for a while, as this role earned him this year’s Golden Globe for best actor in a motion picture (drama).

It is a perfect marriage of actor and role. Rourke’s pumped-up physique and ruined face personify the “broken down piece of meat” that Randy has become.

It is questionable whether this success will propel Rourke back to the top of the acting profession. Even if he wins the Oscar, years of fighting, substance abuse and bad plastic surgery has turned the once ruggedly handsome actor into a gargoyle. Even though his days as a leading man are finished, Rourke deserves the accolades he is receiving for this role.

VAN NOVACK is the assistant vice president of institutional research and assessment at Cal State Long Beach and lives in Huntington Beach with his wife, Elizabeth.