Welcome one and all to part 27 of The 52 In 52. Each week I watch one of my numerous DVDs and Blu Ray and review it for you all. Last week was the milestone half way point of this feature and I posted a link to all of the previous parts so you can all get caught up, so head on over to this LINK to check that out. I also watched and reviewed The Pact so head on over to read that too.
As always if you have a comment or feedback about this or any of the other posts leave a comment in the section below or by following me on Twitter and Instagram.
If you are a follower of this blog or me in general then you'll know that I am a huge pro wrestling/sports entertainment fan and I also love films too. There have been some pretty decent films made about pro wrestling, namely The Wrestler and Andre The Giant and OK I'll be generous and say Ready To Rumble too. There have been some stinkers too, I'm looking squarely at you Mr Nanny. I was a little surprised to hear that there was going to be a film about WWE superstar Paige's story but, I was intrigued. I must admit I've never seen the documentary that the film is based on but, after watching Fighting With My Family I would love to see it.
Fighting With My Family follows the story of the Knight family and in particular Saraya (Florence Pugh) and her brother Zak (Jack Lowden) on their quest to become WWE superstars. They attend try outs run by Hutch Morgan (Vince Vaughn) when they encounter The Rock (Dwayne Johnson playing himself). The family is torn apart when Saraya catches the eye of Morgan is soon on her way to Florida.
I loved every minute of Fighting With My Family. The central characters of Saraya and Zak are the real heart of the story. Florence Pugh continues to impress me with every performance she gives. She almost inhabits the character fully, embodying Knight down to her mannerisms and delivery. Jack Lowden is fantastic as Zak, showing a great vulnerability to what could have been a very one dimensional character. Lena Headey and Nick Frost are hilarious as Julia and Patrick Knight, providing a lot of the comic relief throughout.
The story itself is well written and is the perfect balance of comedy and drama. There is a lot of character work that Stephen Merchant is well known for. The risk of films like Fighting With My Family is that the style of story telling could become silly and lose the drama or become dramatic and not be funny anymore but, I feel Merchant has achieved a great mix by just telling the story as it is and not really poking fun as the story is a pretty ridiculous one with a lot of larger than life characters. The one issue I had with the story, and it is a little one, is that the story is a little more fiction than fact in places but, I understand that from a story telling standpoint it probably made more sense telling the story the way it is.
I will say that you don't have to be a wrestling fan to enjoy Fighting With My Family. The story of Saraya travelling to a foreign country to follow her dreams is a story that transcends pro wrestling and is relate able. I loved the balance in the story of Saraya and Zak and there are some real heart wrenching moments both individually and together especially the match between the two. What the story really is a tale of an under dog with the odds against her and who doesn't love that ?
Overall Fighting With My Family is a heart warming comedy drama. The central performances are fantastic throughout with Pugh and Lowden really proving that they are two names to look out for in the future. Lena Headey and Nick Frost steal a lot of the scenes they are in. There is a great mix of daft comedy and heart breaking drama that is something for even the most resistant of wrestling fans.
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