j* Movie Reviews 2019

Fighting With My Family (2019)

Went for the wrestling, loved for the human experience.

Dwayne The Rock Johnson is perfect example of *the spark* that crosses audiences from wrestling to the great beyond. So it makes sense he'd get in a produce this great wrestling story about Paige and her spark. He also plays himself, because he did rock up in the true story. But he's not a major character, he's a producer and cameo. If you've never seen the doco on which this film is based, you need to find "The Wrestlers: Fighting with My Family (2012)." It's a great story, and this is a great cinematic version of that story.

Where I was surprised with this was the gorgeous depth of humanity it managed to bring to screen. Unlike wrestling, which can be a bit superficial, this digs deeper and uncovers layers of human truth around life-roles, judgement and *family.* The way the bikini girls are brought through the story from tits & arse to three dimensional team members is quite lovely, and it was really nice to see this stereotyped tension between women resolved so powerfully. Because judgement is judgement regardless of which *direction* it goes in. And bikini bodies have humans inside, just like freaky goths do.

It's nice watching Paige resolve her self-doubts and family upset to become the WWE star. It's a nice girl-triumph story. But the story of her brother is one I think ends up being really well balanced, and nicely treated as a story on screen. Because there's a delightful undercurrent that flows the whole way through this film... that of the backstage heroes, those who create and shape and help the stars on their way up. And brother Zak is a great example of this. Often times people get jaded when they don't make the cut, but the power of Zak's story is in learning to accept that his form of stardom is in creation... he's one of the nebula that births stars and shapes the wider universe.

In this way it is a movie that will probably warm the hearts of people who take on those sorts of roles in life, coaches, teachers, and social workers. It's a film with a lot of heart for anyone who has ever created a space or an event that attempts to bring together a disparate community to do stuff as a group. 

And this theme of celebrating the supporters was even backed up with one of The Rock's cameos with Vince Vaughn playing the roll of his builder/supporter. It's nice to see, in a roundabout way, credit given here to the behind the scenes crew.

There are a lot of funny bits, but I'd put this more heavily into the drama camp than straight up comedy.

J* gives it 4 stars.