As a film critic, there is a considerable amount of information that I must dig into in order to write an effective review. Subject matter in films run the gambit: politics, war, sexual identity, race issues, sports, education, religion, etc. So when I saw my first trailer of "Fighting with My Family", I knew I would have to delve into, at least, some info about wrestling, and not just standard wrestling, but the entertainment style of it by the WWE. So critics need to know a little about a good many topics.
This is a heartwarming comedy/drama based on the incredible true story of WWE Superstar Paige or as she is known in the regular world as Saraya Knight (Florence Pugh). Born into a tight-knit English wrestling family of parents Ricky Knight (Nick Frost) and Julia (Lena Headey), Paige and her brother Zak (Jack Lowden) are ecstatic when they get the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to try out for the WWE. But when only Paige earns a spot in the competitive training program by trainer, Hutch (Vince Vaughn), she must leave her family to come to America and face this new, cutthroat world alone. Paige's journey pushes her to dig deep, fight for her family, and ultimately prove to the world that what makes her different is the very thing that can make her a star.
Others to round out the cast is Dwayne Johnson as himself, Hannah Rae as Courtney, Julia Davis as Daphne, Stephen Merchant as Hugh, Ellie Gonsalves as Maddison, Aqueela Zoll as Kirsten, Kimberly Matula as Jeri-Lynn and James Burrows as Roy Knight.
This was directed by a fairly newcomer to feature films, Stephen Merchant ("Cemetery Junction" '10) plus a plethora of TV. With as many actors as this filmmaker has had to direct in his TV career, it should be no surprise that his innate talent when directing in the feature film business would be artistic. Now, he's no Spielberg, Hitchcock, Coppola or Eastwood, however given more work down the road, he will be a director to contend with. He simply brought out the dysfunction of this family through his actors. It was also written by Merchant ("Cemetery Junction" '10, "The Farm" (TV movie) '13) plus TV and a short. It was surprisingly written well considering the limited feature film experience he has. Now, is this Academy Award caliber? Absolutely not, however, like his TV experience in the directing category, the amount of writing experience in the writing category has definitely served this filmmaker. There were a few places of choppiness and very little slow spots, but all in all this story about this dysfunctional family was cleverly executed and conveyed a great message that no matter how much one is considered an outcast, different, weird, or odd, one can find their passion and succeed in whatever they set their mind to do. And this is certainly a worthy reason to see this.
I've never actually followed the WWE, but from what I learned doing my homework, the sport is not what most people think it is. The wrestlers apparently don't fake the fights, but rather they put on a fictional presentation of an actual wrestling match in an entertaining way. And, like any film, these men and women in the WWE are people like anyone else with problems, issues, families and in need of hard work--like anyone else. It's an interesting film to give us all an inside look at what these athletes do on and out of the ring--and a true rights of passage film to boot.
Out of 4 Stars: 3 Rated: PG-13 108mins.
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