Merchant throws down with charmer of a wrestling tale
Florence Pugh, the young British actress best known for Lady Macbeth and The Outlaw King, steps out of those historic costume drama roles and into a costume of another kind in the terrific new wrestling picture Fighting With My Family. Written and directed by British comedian Stephen Merchant (Hello Ladies; Extras) with a whole lot of heart and verve, the film is based on a true story previously chronicled in the documentary The Wrestlers: Fighting With My Family. Merchant’s fictionalized account brings a sports underdog story to life — always a risk for clichés — but does so with such earnest spirit and genuine affection that you can’t help but develop a rooting interest in the film’s indelible characters and immensely enjoy yourself along the way.
The movie opens with pre-teen siblings Zak and Saraya (Thomas Whilley and Tori Ellen Ross) fighting over what to watch on TV; their bear of a father (Nick Frost) enters, and the viewer of course thinks Dad is going to admonish the kids and break up the fight. But, instead, he encourages them to keep going, as their mother (Lena Headey) enters the room, too, and both give their children pointers on successful wrestling. Surprised audience laughter ensues, and Merchant thus cleverly establishes the picture’s tone. Turns out the family has wrestling in its blood (“like hepatitis,” the film tells us more than once). Both parents wrestle, and older half-brother Roy (James Burrows) did, too, before his current jail stint.
The family, living in the small English town of Norwich, runs an amateur wrestling association, and trains young, otherwise bored kids (including a young blind man), picking them up from loafing in the streets in a rickety van and ferrying them to an even ricketier gym. But the lessons imparted — physical agility, listening and reacting to others, and the sense of community and belonging — transcend the modest conditions.
As Zak and Saraya get older (now played by Pugh and Jack Lowden), both dream of joining the glitzy, professional World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). An audition tape lands them a chance to earn a competition spot, as well as meet Dwayne Johnson, AKA famous wrestler The Rock (who executive produced, and has two small but very funny scenes here). It’s not too much of a spoiler to say that Saraya gets selected and Zak doesn’t, setting up a realistic and difficult conflict for the two close siblings.
From there, we alternate between Saraya (who takes the wrestling name Paige), training in Orlando for the WWE Diva Championship, and Zak, back in Norwich, dealing with a girlfriend, a new baby, and increasing envy and depression. The rapport between the two siblings is one of the movie’s best elements. Paige loves her brother, and desperately wishes he were with her, and so feels like she can’t totally enjoy her success. And Zak wants to be supportive, but finds himself despondent and jealous. Both in their individual and joint scenes, Pugh and Lowden excel at expressing these conflicting emotions with authenticity and heartbreak.
But the film isn’t all high drama and emotion; there is much at which to laugh and cheer. Paige, with her pale skin and black hair, suffers culture shock in Orlando. Her initial trouble fitting in with the young women competitors she perceives as lightweight, sun-kissed, blonde actress types moves beyond stereotypes to something deeper, which is the crux — and the strength — of Merchant’s film. It plays with our perceptions, shrewdly revealing that we are all capable of much more than what our outward appearances may superficially indicate.
Indeed, Paige’s family itself is unconventional: her mother has colorful dyed hair and tattoos, her father is burly with a Mohawk, and they have experienced homelessness, drug use, and prison in their pasts. But they love their children fiercely, and want the best for them; their familial bonds are just as tight and solid as any buttoned up, Ivy League family. Merchant himself plays the staid, conservative father of Zak’s girlfriend, and when he and his equally proper wife come visit the wrestling family, the contrast is played for laughs. Later, of course, the two families relax into each other, as they find their common ground in their love and support for their children and grandchild.
Finally, Vince Vaughn has a relatively straight role (though he still gets to deadpan some acerbic one liners) as the no nonsense coach Hutch, who grooms the Orlando hopefuls. He has nice chemistry with Pugh, and their dynamic, as he sees past her fear and insecurity and pushes her to be her best, is honestly portrayed. The “you can do it” message is inspiring without being heavy handed.
“Inspiring but not heavy handed” actually is an apt phrase for describing the film as a whole. As in most sports movies like this one, the picture ends with a Big Competition. But by the time we get to it, we’re so invested in Paige and her family, and so intrigued by the spectacle and showmanship of the WWE, that we look forward to the bout. No spoilers on who wins the big match, but suffice to say that the film’s recurring theme plays out exactly as you would want. Those who feel like outsiders (or “freaks,” a word Paige and her family hear a lot), the film tells us, are worthy, have much to offer, and can find their place in the world, too. And one small final note: be sure to stay through the end credits, as photos of the real Saraya and her family are shown on screen, and it’s always fun to see the actors’ true life counterparts.
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Fighting With My Family opens today at Bay Area theaters.
