There are any number of body slamming analogies that could be used to describe the impact of "The Wrestler," but you won't read them here. Instead, it can be said that "The Wrestler" is simple storytelling and a simply amazing movie featuring Mickey Rourke giving one of the best acting performances in recent memory.

Despite the film's award buzz surrounding Rourke, the indie flick about the violence-fueled male soap opera known as professional wrestling never found a large audience. Don't let the topic fool you. This film demands to be taken seriously.

The focus is on Robin Ramzinski, a.k.a. Randy "The Ram" Robinson, a bleach-blonde icon of '80s wrestling. He sold-out Madison Square Garden during his famous match with The Ayatollah. But 20 years later, he's all alone and a walking mound of scar tissue, getting slammed around in V.F.W.'s and school gyms with worn-out limbs, hearing loss in one ear and a face written with the hazards of the ring.

He hauls boxes at the local grocer to get money to rent a trailer in Jersey and the occasional lap dance from Cassidy (Marisa Tomei, once again in great form), a stripper Randy longs for who can relate to his need to exploit your body to please a crowd. Randy's also going out buying props for upcoming matches and keeping his body filled with a laundry list of drugs, steroids and growth hormone to keep up his physique while rocking out to the hair metal of his heyday. Against all odds, "The Ram" is eyeing a comeback when an opportunity for a 20th anniversary rematch with The Ayatollah comes his way. But after a grueling match results in Randy's heart giving out, he begins to re-evaluate the decisions he's made in his life and the direction of what's left of it.

Sean Penn may have won the Oscar in 2008 for "Milk," but after seeing Mickey Rourke in this film, you may be convinced he was robbed. Rourke is absolutely mesmerizing and embodies Randy in every labored breath, showcasing a kind man under the muscle struggling with his outer pain and inner loneliness whose only sense of bliss is attained from the bumps in the ring and the crowd in his corner. He may have his own action figure, but he's no hero to his daughter Stephanie (a volatile and sweet Evan Rachel Wood) after choosing wrestling over the responsibility of fatherhood. The scenes the two have together are both touching, devastating and visceral as Randy tries to reconnect, merely pleading "I just don't want you to hate me" instead of asking for her love. You can't take your eyes off Rourke, and you shouldn't. His performance is just that good.

Thankfully, director Darren Aronofsky knows this. Ditching the cerebral and visual trickery of "The Fountain," Aronofsky keeps it gritty and bare-bones. The hand-held camera is always just over Randy's shoulder, stalking him like a long-time fan. It also gives us a behind-the-scenes look at Randy's world, from the humorous otherworldly ring personas and match choreography lingo to the wince-worthy brutality of their over-the-top bloodsport. And while it seems to have the plotline of a wrestling "Rocky," writer Robert Siegel keeps the main character's many flaws intact.

Through a movie that's both tragic and triumphant, Rourke emerges as champion and "The Wrestler" comes out on top as a piece of unforgettable filmmaking.