Review: Fighting With My Family

The story of Saraya-Jade Bevis (Florence Pugh), daughter of Norwich wrestling royalty of-sorts, promoter/trainer Ricky Bevis (AKA Ricky Knight, played by Nick Frost) and former wrestler/promoter Julia Bevis (AKA Sweet Saraya Knight, played by Lena Headey). Saraya-Jade and her brother Zak (an excellent Jack Lowden) take an opportunity to try out for the WWE, and eventually Saraya-Jade (aged just 18 at the time) is signed by WWE and sent to its developmental territory, and eventually the televised NXT program which exposes the latest signees to the ins-and-outs of WWE TV, grooming them for main roster promotion and bigger TV exposure. Sadly, brother Zak is rejected, with NXT/Performance Centre coach ‘Hutch’ (a fictionalised character played by Vince Vaughn) basically telling Zak he just hasn’t got ‘it’. Meanwhile, Saraya-Jade, eventually given the moniker ‘Paige’ finds that while her wrestling experience might place her slightly ahead of the other model and cross-fit athletes etc., but that doesn’t mean she’s ready for WWE success, especially as WWE tends to be a promo-based company.

It can be quite difficult judging a movie based on a subject you know something about. However, I feel pretty safe in ragging on this 2019 fictionalised biography by writer/director Stephen Merchant (Ricky Gervais’ lanky mate) somewhat. Why? Well, for a start it’s adopted the title of a 2012 documentary about the exact same subject, so if Merchant’s gonna be that stupid I think it’s fair game to then pick apart what’s true to life and what’s not. Also, it’s just not an especially good film, period. It’s corny, clichéd and unpersuasive. Being a wrestling fan myself, this review will take on that point of view, but there’s plenty of other reviews out there from other points of view, so if you’re more interested in its merits as a piece of cinema alone, you’ve got plenty of other choices I suppose. Merchant is apparently not a wrestling fan, and definitely doesn’t appear to be a keen student of the current product. When showing clips of WWE/F he mostly shows Attitude Era/Ruthless Aggression Era excerpts well before Paige’s run. Being a wrestling fan on and off since 1985-6, I can only offer the perspective of a fan. This film didn’t work for me much at all, I didn’t believe hardly any of it.

The problems start early, with the casting of Nick Frost and especially Lena Headey. If you’re in any way familiar with the Knight/Bevis family (or if you just look at the real-life footage foolishly used at the end of the film), you’ll know that Merchant has massively sanitised and glammed them all up. It’s especially the case with the poorly cast Headey as the hellcat matriarch Saraya Knight/Julia Hamer-Bevis. She looks nothing like her, hasn’t remotely gone for a Norwich accent, and plays her as a mother who likes to go motorbike riding once in a while on weekends. Nick Frost is considerably better as patriarch Ricky Bevis/Knight, but is definitely too cuddly playing a bloke who served serious prison time mostly for violent crimes. I’m guessing Merchant wanted to hire some Brits with cache in the U.S., but the casting does nothing to convey the story or characters convincingly. Even those ignorant of the real-life story and people will likely roll their eyes at this watered-down portrayal where Headey lets her punk-ish hair colour do all of the acting and otherwise looks thoroughly bored. I will give Merchant points for getting some of the facts right here, as Paige did indeed wrestle her mum in their own federation, but for the most part he whiffs big-time. That said, while I think the bit with Ricky and the bowling ball was unlikely to be true, it was a) Funny, and b) Similar enough to something he’d likely do in his rather low-rent federation (In a carny industry, the Knight family were uber-carny folk). I did sort of believe Ricky and Saraya/Julia exploiting Paige’s popularity shamelessly, except that in the film’s timeline she wasn’t even on TV yet.

By far the most believable portrayal here is that of Paige’s brother Zak, an aspiring wrestler who also tried out for WWE. Played by Jack Lowden, Zak’s character arc is the most believable, accurate, and interesting in the entire film and Lowden’s also the most Norwich-sounding member of the on-screen family. A somewhat mediocre talent compared to his sister, you can’t help but feel sorry for poor Zak being an aspiring WWE wrestler who gets left behind in Norwich while his sister hits the big-time. It can’t have been easy to deal with, and Merchant seems to have at least done his research with this character. The scene where Vince Vaughn’s WWE Performance Centre trainer character has to tell Zak that he hasn’t got ‘it’ is every talent who couldn’t make it to the big leagues story ever. Not everyone is the right fit for WWE, and not everyone has that indefinable but absolutely essential ‘it’ factor. It’s sadly ironic that the film’s B-story is the thing that resonates most as authentic. Oh, the Paige stuff has its moments. Vince Vaughn is actually pretty believable as the developmental head trainer. Again, it’s somewhat ironic that a fictionalised amalgam character resonates as more truthful than the supposedly real characters, but Vaughn’s character and performance suggest at least some research was done on how WWE’s developmental system works, though Merchant cocks things up when it comes to portraying the televised NXT shows (Incorrectly calling it ‘The NXT’ doesn’t help, either). This films version of NXT looks more like the old NXT where it was more of a reality TV competition rather than an actual pro-wrestling show. I also call bullshit on Paige being booed and disrespected by NXT crowds, as Paige was super popular after just one or two weeks, partly due to ‘smart’ fans knowing of her background. I get it, it’s not a documentary, but again it is a film with the same title as a documentary on the same subject, so I’m calling Merchant out on it, just as I’m crediting him when he gets things right. I did like the scene where Paige helps out the blonde bimbo NXT rookies with their ring work, as I believe that’s something that Paige (and later her contemporary Bayley) indeed did during her time there as she had more in-ring experience than a lot of the others in developmental. Her being reprimanded for slapping a rookie, though? Nope, there’s no way on Earth that happened. Her having initial problems getting along with the model-type bimbo wrestlers/Divas does have a slight ring of truth, but it feels overstated. I know it’s not meant to be a docudrama per se, however Paige’s speech about why she wants to be a wrestler is entirely unconvincing to anyone who is familiar with her. On the other hand, while I don’t believe Paige would be an Iron Maiden fan who would sing along to ‘Bring Your Daughter to the Slaughter’ (A lot of Maiden fans don’t even like that one, though I’m rather partial to it), she does seem to be into rock ‘n’ roll at least, so I’ll let that one slide. It gets even worse, however when we get to Paige supposedly quitting NXT/WWE to go back home and wrestle her brother in Santa outfits. Even non-fans surely won’t buy that bullshit, especially since she’s got the NXT Women’s Championship with her at the time! You think they’re gonna let her quit and take that home with her? That’s company property, genius! Also, despite supposedly helping the other girls with their ring-work, Merchant then cocks up by making Paige look completely out of her depth on NXT. I’m not saying Paige didn’t have it hard in coming to the WWE and dealing with a big media company, etc. However, her issues were more behavioural and eventually health-related, as she had spinal issues from years of wrestling in the UK as well as having scoliosis. Merchant wants us to believe that Paige, despite earlier helping her competitors out, is nonetheless unable to hack it for a while. Bull. Shit. Uh-uh. In fact, Merchant seems to want to portray her wrestling experience as less legitimate than WWE (And by legitimate I don’t mean to suggest that professional wrestling is ‘real’. It’s more dangerous and hazardous to one’s health than many non-fans seem to realise but it’s still choreographed fictional violence for TV consumption). Perhaps WWE asked Merchant to do this. WWE’s own on-air announcers tend to gloss over anyone’s prior experience with other companies or at least talk up WWE as being ‘the big leagues’. However, anyone who knows anything about it, knows that Paige’s wrestling background is more legit than the ‘sports entertainment’ that WWE specialises in. Then again, we’re talking about a film that shows the worked nature/choreography in wrestling but then later wants to present the Paige vs. AJ Lee match on RAW as being a legitimate contest, which may be the most absurd thing in the entire film. I do understand why they changed the finish to the match though, considering in actuality it was slightly botched. The subsequent speech, which also never happened? Eye-rolling.

As for a cameoing Dwayne Johnson, the former Rock is the best thing in the first 30 minutes of the film via sheer charisma and charm (We also get cameos by current ‘Superstars’ Big Show, Sheamus, and The Miz). Having said that, his second appearance is narratively confusing, as all of a sudden he knows Paige’s name. Yeah, in real life he did apparently have a chat to her at WrestleMania, the night before her main roster debut. However, we’re not given any idea how he learned her name between then and now. As for the woman playing Paige’s opponent the night after WrestleMania, current WWE women’s wrestler Thea Trinidad (Now known as Zelina Vega and mostly used as a valet-mouthpiece) is no AJ Lee, but if any WWE talent had to portray her, Trinidad’s probably the best choice from a size/ethnicity standpoint.

Florence Pugh looks a bit like the real Paige, so that was nice, but it’s the best I can say for her rather dull and try-hard performance. I never bought her as anything other than an actress playing a part, rather than truly inhabiting the role. She doesn’t get remotely near the Norwich accent, even sounding Irish at times. Combine that with the lack of authenticity in Merchant’s script and I just didn’t buy it. Whether non-fans buy it or not, I can’t rightly say but I certainly didn’t. The postscript has some truth in it, but unsurprisingly leaves out the sex tape (which involved at least one other current WWE employee and another former WWE employee), failed drug tests, and her retirement. I’m pretty certain WWE (whose production company co-produced the film) had a say in that creative decision. What does bother me is that despite featuring absolutely no hint of it throughout the film, the postscript mentions that Paige ushered in a new era of women’s wrestling being taken seriously in WWE. That should’ve been a part of the film’s narrative, as it’s a fascinating story that would’ve been inspiring to young female viewers. Maddening.

Look, I’m not mad that the film is untruthful as such. A fictionalised portrait that openly admits to being fictionalised is fine. I’m mad that the film has taken the title of a documentary (“The Wrestlers: Fighting With My Family”) and put it on to a fictionalised and inaccurate portrait. Yeah, the film covers territory the documentary didn’t but it still pissed me off. A film about a wrestler made for people who aren’t fans of Paige or wrestling in general. If that’s you, perhaps you’ll enjoy this shallow and unconvincing film. However, if you’re a fan like myself, you’re unlikely to buy a moment of this watered down, hardly factually-based film. It’s also just not a very interesting film, far too clichéd, pat, and caricatured. Extremely disappointing, as the documentary shows that the basic facts to Paige’s story are fascinating enough without any fictional embellishment getting in the way. 

Rating: C-