Fighting With My Family Director: Stephen Merchant Starring: Florence Pugh, Jack Lowden, Nick Frost, Vince Vaughn (also The Rock, for like two scenes) Genres: Comedy, Drama, Biopic IMDb Synopsis: "A former wrestler and his family make a living performing at small venues across the country while his kids dream of joining World Wrestling Entertainment." |
Guys, “Fighting With My Family” is really good! A lot of movies try to be both dramas and comedies, and usually one or the other suffers because of it. But Merchant, who also wrote the script, does a great job balancing these two elements, delivering a delightfully funny story full of belly laughs while also managing to pull at the heartstrings where it’s called for. Many of the characters are larger-than-life exaggerations of real people (see: Nick Frost as Paige’s ex-con wrestler dad), but you buy into them pretty quickly. The dialogue is lively, witty, & delivered with near-perfect timing from everyone involved. It did take me about 15 minutes to initially adjust to these unconventional characters, but once you’re into this story, you’re in to stay.
Like I said, this movie also isn’t afraid to get real when the story calls for it. There’s some genuinely interesting drama between Paige and her older brother, who finds his own wrestling dreams passed over in Paige’s favor. Jack Lowden puts in a terrific performance here. Vince Vaughn is surprisingly nuanced as Paige’s coach/drill sergeant; one conversation between the young wrestler and Vaughn’s character really stands out, with Vaughn simply asking Paige, “How do you see this ending for you?” You really feel the drama here; you feel how much of a toll wrestling has taken on these people’s lives.
Overall, “Fighting With My Family” gets a big recommend from me. It’s a hilarious story about some truly inspiring characters, and Merchant transitions between breezy, offbeat humor and relatable family drama with ease. Everyone shows up to play (excuse me, fight… ) here. As someone who doesn’t give a shit about the WWE, trust me when I say you don’t have to care about wrestling to have a great time with this movie. Because obviously, the wrestling’s all fake. Just like the moon landings and paying taxes.
Image & Info Sources!
m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjQ3MTk4Nzc1M15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwMTEwMDU5NjM@._V1_UX182_C
R0,0,182,268_AL_.jpg
Fighting With My Family IMDb: www.imdb.com/title/tt6513120/?ref_=ttmi_tt
Paige image:
m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjJmODZhMzMtNTY2Yi00NmEzLTg3OTQtNTA3ZTIyODBmODZlXkEyXkFqc
GdeQXVyNjUwNzk3NDc@._V1_SX1777_CR0,0,1777,733_AL_.jpg