“FIGHTING WITH MY FAMILY” — 3 stars — Dwayne Johnson, Lena Headey, Vince Vaughn, Florence Pugh, Nick Frost, Jack Lowden; PG-13 (crude and sexual material, language throughout, some violence and drug content); in general release; running time: 108 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — You probably wouldn’t expect a movie about a world full of spandex-clad hulk-men smashing each other’s heads with folding chairs to inspire terms like “charming” or “moving.” Yet, “Fighting With My Family” manages to connect in a more genuine way than its “fake” subject matter might suggest.
Based on a true story, Stephen Merchant’s film is the story of Saraya Knight — better known as the WWE Diva champion Paige — who rose from humble roots in Britain to the pinnacle of professional wrestling.
For the Knight family, wrestling is more than a passion. It’s a family business. As the film opens, we see Mom and Dad running World Association of Wrestling, a minor league wrestling exhibition that puts on shows around the Norwich, England, area. When they aren’t driving around town in a transit van picking up local kids for weekly training, the whole family is in the ring showing the community — or at least a couple dozen members of it — their best moves.
The allusions to a church bus aren’t coincidental. As patriarch Ricky (Nick Frost) explains, wrestling is his salvation. Along with the efforts of his devoted and equally manic wife Julia (Lena Headey), the lure of wrestling saved him from a life of crime.
The family's dreams of hitting it big take a dramatic turn when, after months of lobbying, 18-year-old Saraya (Florence Pugh) and big brother Zak (Jack Lowden) finally land a tryout with World Wrestling Entertainment. But the opportunity turns bittersweet when, after a rigorous vetting led by ex-wrestler Hutch (Vince Vaughn), only Saraya makes the cut.
So the plot takes Saraya (re-dubbed Paige, after her favorite character from the TV show "Charmed") to the WWE training facility in Florida as she follows her dream of wrestling superstardom, while Zak stays behind to raise his newborn son and reconcile his future.
What follows is a multifaceted story that is surprisingly engaging and sincere, especially juxtaposed against the corny bravado and crudity of its pro wrestling context. Saraya is away from her family for the first time, facing competition of both a physical and psychological sort — most of her competitors come from modeling backgrounds and put her pedestrian gothic chic to shame. In the meantime, Zak is torn by his love for his sister and a crushing disappointment that threatens to let the criminal temptations of the neighborhood swallow him up.
Playing these sincere stories against a professional backdrop that blurs the line between reality and entertainment is a compelling move, but Merchant wisely focuses on the genuine human challenges in his characters’ lives.
Saraya is repeatedly told that success depends on engaging her audience, and Pugh shines as she does the same thing for us. Lowden is acutely sympathetic as Zak, and Frost and Headey are fun as Ricky and Julia, but the runaway supporting MVP is Dwayne Johnson, who appears in a pair of key scenes to remind us that The Rock always makes a movie better.
Even without The Rock, though, “Fighting With My Family” will tug at your heartstrings as it body slams its characters.
Rating explained: “Fighting With My Family” is rated PG-13 for mostly wrestling-related violence, persistent crude dialogue and profanity and some sexual content (mainly in the form of revealing outfits and swimsuits).