For One Family, Wrestling Isn’t a Hobby, It’s a Lifestyle

Jack Lowden and Florence Pugh in
"Fighting with My Family"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

One of the marks of a skillful filmmaker is the ability to make you invested in something that you wouldn’t care about on a normal basis.  Such a skill can make you look at something in a different way and maybe give you a new appreciation for whatever the subject of the movie might be.

Writer-director Stephen Merchant accomplishes this with the biographical comedy-drama, “Fighting with My Family.”  Other than watching a bit of “WWE SmackDown” here and there when I was younger, I was never much a wrestling fan.  However, Merchant puts enough care into this story, giving us a narrative that has laughs, emotion, and inspiration.

Saraya “Paige” Bevis (Florence Pugh) lives in Norwich, England, with her family of wrestlers that includes her brother, Zak (Jack Lowden); her mother, Julia (Lena Headey); and father, Patrick (Nick Frost).  Although the family gets along with their love for each and love of wrestling, complications soon arise when Paige and Jack try out for “SmackDown,” with only Paige being chosen to move to the next round.

Pugh, who delivered a stunning breakout performance in William Oldroyd’s 2017 drama, “Lady Macbeth,” delivers blazing work as a young woman who strives to prove herself in the ring.  With a boldness in attitude and refusal to let anyone stand in her way, Pugh brings out the humorous and dramatic aspects of her character that create endearing work.  Pugh exhibits Paige’s confidence as she’s at home and when she ventures to Florida to train, but she also shows a shyness as she’s seen as an outsider among the other trainees, bringing her into a situation where she seems to be both in and out of her element.  It’s a moving arc as we see her try to juggle chasing her dream and handling the growing strain between her brother.

Lowden provides an emotional performance where we see the heartrending disappointment in him realizing that his dreams of wrestling might be coming to an end.  It’s a role that exemplifies the pain of having someone tell you that you might not be good enough to be what you want to be, and seeing the weight of this fall down on Zak in one of the film’s most poignant scenes shows you the hopelessness that he feels in having his dream start to become out of his reach.

As Paige’s parents, Headey and Frost provide terrific work whenever they’re together and show a strong connection between their characters.  After being on the fantasy-drama series “Game of Thrones” since 2011, it’s fun to see Headey take on a character such as Julia.  As for Frost, his talent for wit is as reliable as ever, making you grin whenever he’s on screen.

Pugh, Lowden, Headey, and Frost all exhibit a wonderful on-screen chemistry, presenting a familial bond that has you understand how much wrestling means to them and how it connects them.  You sense the love and support that they have for each other, with Julia and Patrick always being there to encourage their children’s dreams.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson appears in a couple of scenes as himself, but he makes the most out of his limited screen time, especially in his first appearance, where he provides some hilarious words of advice for Paige and Zak as they prepare for their WWE tryouts.

Although the story follows many beats that you’ll find in other sports movies, Merchant’s screenplay, which is based on the Max Fisher’s 2012 documentary, “The Wrestlers: Fighting with My Family,” provides you with an insight into how much wrestling means to the Bevis family, showing the matches that they put on for the public and the gym that they operate that teaches youths how to wrestle.  Once we arrive at the portion of the narrative where Paige travels to Florida to train with other WWE hopefuls, Merchant offers a look into the challenges that Paige must face when competing against other wrestlers and facing the skepticism of a WWE trainer (Vince Vaughn).  Between these two areas of the plot, we see the hard work to which Paige and her family commit themselves in order to find success in wrestling.

As a director, Merchant brings us into the WWE world in such a way that even non-fans of wrestling will be drawn into what he presents.  He provides enough details that show what goes into becoming a successful wrestler, making us feel the physical toll that these competitors have to go through in order to gain recognition.  Outside of this, Merchant also shows his dexterity in transitioning between the family’s humorous antics and heartfelt moments, creating a genuineness within the lives of the characters.

“Fighting with My Family” is a crowd-pleasing view of a family that shows the love that they have for each other and the love that they have for wrestling, and all of that should be enough to make you want to step into the ring.

Grade: A-