Movie Title: Fighting With My Family
Genre: Biopic, Sports, Comedy, Drama
Director: Stephen Merchant
Starring: Florence Pugh, Lena Headey, Nick Frost, Jack Lowden, Vince Vaughn, Dwayne Johnson, James Burrows, Hannah Rae, Thea Trinidad, Kim Matula, Aqueela Zoll, Ellie Gonsalves, Stephen Merchant, Julia Davis
Review: Born into a tight-knit wrestling family, Paige (Florence Pugh) 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, she must leave her loved ones behind and face this new cutthroat world alone. Paige's journey pushes her to dig deep and ultimately prove to the world that what makes her different is the very thing that can make her a star.
Fighting With My Family is a refreshingly funny biographical comedy with a lot of heart. My expectations were relatively low going in, and if I'm being completely honest, I felt the inclusion of Dwayne Johnson in this cast was more of a publicity stunt than anything. I was wrong. We know Dwayne Johnson first came to fame as The Rock in professional wrestling, but this movie was so good that it could have survived without his character. I sincerely hope that anybody who came for Johnson, stayed for what proved to be a really funny and heartfelt film.
Florence Pugh was fantastic as Paige, and really carried this film along with her coach and mentor played by Vince Vaughn. Nick Frost and Lena Headey provided a lot of comic relief as her wrestling-crazed parents, who despite their exuberant fandom, really just want to see their daughter reach her goals. The most heartfelt relationship in this film stems from Pugh and her character's brother Zak, played by Jack Lowden. Their relationship is a roller coaster of brotherly/sisterly love, resentment, and motivation as Paige tries to fulfill her brother's dream while also realizing that wrestling may be her dream, too. This film ultimately ended up being a celebratory tale of overcoming the odds and persevering through adversity to follow your grandest aspirations; something all of us can relate to in some way or another. Fighting With My Family had a great script, was really well acted, and a nuanced character study that reached far beyond the confines of a wrestling ring. Whether you're a wrestling fan or not, I think you should absolutely check out this funny, sweet biopic!
Fun Fact: Saraya-Jade Bevis (the real life Paige) said that her dad was disappointed he was going to be played by Nick Frost because he didn't know who Nick Frost was and he wanted to be played by Ray Winstone. But when he saw Nick Frost's performance he said, "he's actually pretty good, ain't he?"