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Fighting with My Family

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Fighting with My Family
Theatrical release poster
Directed byStephen Merchant
Written byStephen Merchant
Based onThe Wrestlers: Fighting with My Family
by Max Fisher
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyRemi Adefarasin
Edited byNancy Richardson
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed by
  • Lionsgate(United Kingdom)
  • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (United States)
Release dates
  • 28 January 2019(2019-01-28)(Sundance)
  • 14 February 2019(2019-02-14)(United States)
  • 27 February 2019(2019-02-27)(United Kingdom)
Running time
108 minutes
Countries
  • United Kingdom
  • United States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$11 million[1]
Box office$41.5 million[2][3]

Fighting with My Familyis a 2019biographicalsportscomedy-dramafilm written and directed byStephen Merchant.Based on the 2012 documentaryThe Wrestlers: Fighting with My Familyby Max Fisher, it depicts the career of Englishprofessional wrestlerPaigeas she makes her way toWWE,while also following her brotherZak Zodiac,as he struggles with his failure to achieve similar success.Florence PughandJack Lowdenstar as Paige and Zodiac respectively, alongsideLena Headey,Nick Frost,Vince Vaughn,andDwayne Johnson,with the latter also acting as producer.

The film premiered at theSundance Film Festivalon 28 January 2019, and was theatrically released in the United States on 14 February 2019. It received positive reviews from critics, particularly for Merchant's directing and the performances of Pugh and Vaughn. The film grossed $41.5 million worldwide.

Plot[edit]

WrestlersRickandJulia Knightraise their children,SarayaandZak,to follow in their footsteps; as young adults, the siblings apply to join theWWE,and are evaluated by veteran trainer Hutch Morgan, who agrees to let them try out before aSmackDowntaping at TheO2 Arena,where they meet WWE legendDwayne "The Rock" Johnson.Shortly before her tryout, Saraya adopts the stage name "Paige", after her favorite character on the TV showCharmed.

Morgan chooses Paige to train for the WWE, but not Zak, despite Paige's protests. Morgan forces Zak to return home after making it clear he will never be signed to the WWE, leaving Paige with no one to stick up for her. Arriving atNXTin Florida, Paige has difficulty with the training, especially given that her fellow trainees are mostly models and cheerleaders who have no wrestling experience and thus make poor opponents. Paige also struggles with performing choreographed promos as they clash with her own natural instincts, and suffers from Morgan's constant belittlement of her mistakes.

During her WWE debut at an NXT live event, Paige is heckled by the crowd and freezes, leaving the ring in tears. She tries bleaching her dark hair and gets a spray tan in a desperate attempt to fit in with her peers. After failing an obstacle course, Paige lashes out at the other trainees for gossiping about her when they weren't. A sympathetic Morgan then reveals to Paige the real reason he didn't let Zak sign up: the league would have forced him to work as ajobber,which would have ruined his health. Morgan implies that a similar experience forced him to give up on his own wrestling career.

Believing that professional wrestling isn't worth it and that she'd have a much happier life helping her parents train other wrestlers, Paige decides to quit the WWE and return to her hometown. She travels home for the Christmas break to inform her family of her decision. Angry that she is giving up on the dream that he failed to achieve, Zak attacks Paige during a wrestling match, and then gets in a drunken bar fight. Paige changes her mind after Zak berates her for giving up, and she returns to Florida to rejoin the WWE. She reasserts her individuality by re-adopting her original hair colour and skin tone, rapidly improves in training, and befriends and encourages many of her fellow trainees.

Morgan brings the trainees toWrestleMania XXX,where The Rock greets Paige and tells her she will make herRawdebut the following night against the currentWWE Divas Champion,AJ Lee.Paige makes her Raw debut, where she again freezes and takes a severe beating from Lee before finally turning the tables and beating the champion. Claiming Lee's title for herself, she proudly declares "this is MY house now!" as her family and friends cheer her victory back home.

Cast[edit]

Additionally,WWEwrestlersBig Show,SheamusandThe Mizmake appearances as themselves, while an uncredited actor playedJohn Cena.Michael Cole,Jerry Lawler,andJohn "Bradshaw" Layfieldprovide commentary on the Paige vs. AJ Lee match, whileJim Rossprovided commentary on The Rock's match. Several other WWE wrestlers (including Cena himself), as well as the real Knight family, appear inarchival footagethroughout the film, whileZak Zodiachimself appears in a cameo as a gang lieutenant.

Production[edit]

On 7 February 2017,The Hollywood Reporterreported thatDwayne JohnsonandStephen Merchanthad teamed withWWE StudiosandFilm4to produce a film based on the life ofSaraya "Paige" Bevis,a professional wrestler with theWWE.[4]Merchant would write and direct the film, while Johnson wouldcameoin the film and executive produce. In the days after the announcement, the main cast was revealed:Florence Pughas Saraya,[5]Jack Lowdenas Saraya's brother Zak, andLena HeadeyandNick Frostas their parents.[6]Metro-Goldwyn-Mayeracquired the distribution rights on 10 February for US$17.5 million.[7]On 14 February, Johnson announced thatVince Vaughnhad been cast, and filming would commence the following day.[8][9]In-ring scenes were filmed afterWWE Rawon 20 February at theStaples CenterinLos Angeles.[10][11]Filming also took place around Bracknell, Berkshire, specifically the Harmans Water area, also in and aroundNorwich,Norfolk,England,with locations around the city used in the film, as well as the seaside town ofGreat Yarmouth,[12][13]and atPinewood Studios.[14]

Historical accuracy[edit]

Like many biographical films, the film took several liberties with Paige's journey with WWE. The film had her start her WWE career performing for NXT when she actually first performed inFlorida Championship Wrestling,Paige's time in NXT was kept minimal with no mention of her reign asNXT Women's Champion,and several characters were fictional, including Hutch Morgan. Additionally, Paige had previously failed a WWE tryout before being successful in another. Johnson himself never met Paige (or any of the Bevis/Knight family) until seeing the original documentary in 2012, unlike the film's fictionalized portrayal of Johnson meeting Paige and Zak backstage of a WWE event in England; Johnson himself had just returned to WWE in 2011 after a seven-year absence when Paige signed with WWE in April 2011.[15]

Release[edit]

Fighting with My Familypremiered at the2019 Sundance Film Festivalon 28 January. It was released in the United States on 14 February 2019, in four theatres in Los Angeles and New York,[16]and expanded to a wide release on 22 February 2019. It was released on 27 February 2019 in the United Kingdom.[17][18]The movie was pre-sold internationally by sales representative Bloom.[19]

Reception[edit]

Box office[edit]

Fighting with My Familygrossed$41.5 millionworldwide against a production budget of$11 million.[2][3]

In its limited opening weekend,Fighting with My Familymade $162,567 from four theaters over the four-day President's Day weekend.[16]The film expanded to 2,711 theaters the following weekend and made $2.6 million on its first Friday wide, including $450,000 from Thursday night previews, and went on to gross $8 million for the weekend, finishing fourth at the box office.[20]In its second weekend of wide release, the film made $4.7 million, dropping 40% and finishing seventh.[21]

Critical response[edit]

Onreview aggregatorwebsiteRotten Tomatoes,the film holds an approval rating of 93% based on 242 reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Much like the sport it celebrates,Fighting with My Familymuscles past clichés with a potent blend of energy and committed acting that should leave audiences cheering. "[22]OnMetacritic,the film has aweighted averagescore of 68 out of 100, based on 38 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[23]Audiences polled byCinemaScoregave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, while those atPostTrakgave it an overall positive score of 83% and a 57% "definite recommend".[20]

Nick Allen ofRogerEbert.comopined in a three-out-of-four star review: "Even thoughFighting with My Familyis undoubtedly about branding the WWE as a fantasy factory, its biggest strengths are its wit and surprisingly big heart. "[24]

References[edit]

  1. ^Keegan, Rebecca (4 February 2019).""We Wanted a Studio to Buy Into It, And No One Did": Why Dwayne Johnson Went Indie for His New Movie ".The Hollywood Reporter.Retrieved5 February2019.
  2. ^ab"Fighting with My Family (2019)".Box Office Mojo.Retrieved7 February2020.
  3. ^ab"Fighting With My Family (2019)".The Numbers.Retrieved7 February2020.
  4. ^Ford, Rebecca; Ritman, Alex (7 February 2017)."Dwayne Johnson Gets in the Ring for 'Fighting With My Family' Wrestling Film (Exclusive)".The Hollywood Reporter.Archivedfrom the original on 16 February 2017.Retrieved5 March2017.
  5. ^Shoard, Catherine (8 February 2017)."Stephen Merchant to direct Dwayne Johnson in female wrestling drama".The Guardian.ISSN0261-3077.Archivedfrom the original on 6 March 2017.Retrieved6 March2017.
  6. ^Fleming, Mike Jr. (9 February 2017)."Lena Headey & Nick Frost Join Dwayne Johnson In 'Fighting With My Family'".Deadline Hollywood.Archivedfrom the original on 15 February 2017.Retrieved6 March2017.
  7. ^Lodderhose, Diana; Fleming Jr., Mike (11 February 2017)."MGM Headlocks World Rights To 'Fighting With My Family' In $17.5M Deal: Berlin".Deadline Hollywood.Archivedfrom the original on 11 February 2017.Retrieved6 March2017.
  8. ^Kroll, Justin (14 February 2017)."Vince Vaughn Joins Dwayne Johnson's 'Fighting With My Family'".Variety.Archivedfrom the original on 18 January 2018.Retrieved6 March2017.
  9. ^Makuch, Eddie (15 February 2017)."The Rock's WWE Paige Biopic Adds A Big-Name Actor".GameSpot.Archivedfrom the original on 2 December 2017.Retrieved6 March2017.
  10. ^Meltzer, Dave(20 February 2017)."The Rock at Raw for filming of 'Fighting with my Family'".Wrestling Observer Newsletter.Archivedfrom the original on 11 April 2018.Retrieved10 April2018.
  11. ^Goldman, Eric (21 February 2017)."The Rock evokes CM Punk and AJ Lee in a big way for crowd at WWE show".IGN.Archivedfrom the original on 22 February 2017.Retrieved10 April2018.
  12. ^"Great Yarmouth Mercury".Great Yarmouth Mercury.Archived fromthe originalon 1 September 2019.Retrieved28 February2019.
  13. ^Pochin, Courtney (4 April 2017)."Filming for The Rock's Fighting With My Family to finish in Great Yarmouth".Great Yarmouth Mercury.Archivedfrom the original on 11 April 2018.Retrieved10 April2018.
  14. ^"Fighting with My Family".Pinewood Studios.Retrieved5 June2022.
  15. ^"Paige Explains How Dwayne" The Rock "Johnson First Approached Her To Make" Fighting With My Family "".Wrestling Inc.23 February 2019.
  16. ^abD'Alessandro, Anthony (17 February 2019)."'Alita' Battles Her Way To $41M+ 5-Day, But Remains Far From Heaven At The B.O. "Deadline Hollywood.Retrieved18 February2019.
  17. ^D'Alessandro, Anthony (11 January 2019)."Dwayne Johnson & Dany Garcia's Seven Bucks/MGM Pic 'Fighting With My Family' Making World Premiere At Sundance As Surprise Screening".Retrieved23 February2019.
  18. ^McNary, Dave (27 April 2018)."Dwayne Johnson's Wrestling Drama 'Fighting With My Family' Moved Back to 2019".Variety.Archivedfrom the original on 28 April 2018.Retrieved28 April2018.
  19. ^"Stephen Merchant set for Fighting with My Family".9 February 2017.
  20. ^abD'Alessandro, Anthony (22 February 2018)."'How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World' Fires Up $3M On Thursday ".Deadline Hollywood.Retrieved22 February2019.
  21. ^D'Alessandro, Anthony (3 March 2019)."'Dragon 3' Keeps The Fire Burning At No. 1 With $30M Second Weekend; 'Madea' Mints $27M ".Deadline Hollywood.Retrieved3 March2019.
  22. ^"Fighting With My Family (2019)".Rotten Tomatoes.Fandango.Retrieved10 October2021.
  23. ^"Fighting with My Family Reviews".Metacritic.Retrieved23 February2019.
  24. ^Allen, Nick."Fighting with My Family Movie Review (2019)".RogerEbert.com.Retrieved1 February2019.

External links[edit]

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