Fighting with My Family
Directed By: Stephan Merchant
I must admit going into Fighting with My Family I never understood the pull of wrestling and apart from a period of time in high school when my family was into it never paid much attention wrestling.
But hey I hadn’t been to the cinema since Glass so I gave it a go.
Florence Pugh plays Saraya/Paige who comes from a family of wrestlers and gets her shot to train for the WWE. Unfortunately it was supposed to also be her brother Zak’s (Jack Lowden) shot but he didn’t make the cut so she’s left alone to chase her dream and he’s left to pick up the pieces of his.
Overall I really enjoyed Fighting with My Family. I liked the sibling drama and the performances were really good. Vince Vaughn had some shining moments as the Coach especially when he’s trying to explain to a desperate Zak that some things happen for a reason and some things don’t.
The Rock has a couple of nice moments as well.
And even though this didn’t turn me into any kind of wrestling fan I actually do have more respect for the athleticism and performance aspects of the sport. I also thought the actors did a good job showing them.
The weird thing was going and watching some of Paige’s matches but especially the first one that makes up the last match in the movie. It’s kind of played up in the movie that her looks separate her from the other women one heckler says something about her being like his grandmother for instance even that last costume is different than the actual fight.
It just felt like they were making her more “family friendly,” perhaps.
The differences with the other female trainees were interesting as well. I think they could have left the looks things out of it completely, especially if that wasn’t really an issue, and solely concentrated on the fact that she considered herself a professional wrestler and they were cheerleaders and dancers.
It’s hard to explain my thoughts on that perhaps because within the movie I really liked it but when I actually went home and looked up who Paige is, her actual ring look and such those bits no longer really computed.
And that is my ramble on that one 🙂
Also thanks for the fuck me dead line cause I’m never getting that one out of my head!
Recommend: Yes. It’s a fun film an old-fashioned underdog sports drama with some nice family stuff but you really don’t have to see it in theaters.