If you see Fighting with My Family, as I did tonight, you’ll take a trip back in time, not just to see a version of Saraya Knight’s story of grime to success, but to WrestleMania 30 and the Raw that followed it. And somewhere in between, anyone who watched NXT and knows Paige’s history will get very confused.
Of course, SPOILER ALERT: this review spills the beans on a lot of what happens in the movie, and does so more and more the deeper you’ll get.
But let’s start with the film on its own merits
Maybe I wasn’t paying close enough attention to the trailers for Fighting with My Family — or should I say “that same trailer WWE keeps showing?” — but I didn’t realize this was a WWE Studios film. If I’d known that, then I wouldn’t have been surprised by the film’s overall weak visual style that sabotages some strong acting.
In particular, Nick Frost and Zack Lowden — who play Paige’s father and brother — deserve a lot of credit for carrying much of the emotional weight of the film. Lowden, in particular, I think showed a world of talent, because the script he was given felt a bit thin at times, but he imbued it with a lot of solid emotion, and brought his character to life. If you’re wondering who Lowden is, and why I’m not mentioning Simon Pegg, he’s the slightly skinny guy who a friend of mine confused for the Shaun of the Dead star. Lena Headey, who plays Saraya Knight, Paige’s mum, also does well by her role.
Unfortunately, Florence Pugh, who played Paige, had the strongest task to carry: personifying a person who we’ve watched grow up over the last 7 years. I don’t know if Pugh couldn’t handle the work — I’m not familiar with her career — but I know the performance didn’t click with me.
Everything around her, though, did. Director (and cameo-level co-star) Stephen Merchant deserves a lot of credit for making a WWE Studios film feel this good. Not only did every scene in the Knight’s UK home town of Norwich feel authentic, but the crew that Paige’s brother trained, and his work as a trainer, all felt somewhat real.
If you go in with your brain turned to “low” and accept fun and excitement, Fighting with My Family gives you moments where it’s a feel-good blast that’s great and entertaining. The story it tells, of young Saraya Knight, who goes by Britani before she goes by Paige, struggling to be herself when faced with WWE’s habit of being a factory of copy-cats, works, and might even inspire.
Except, for the whole accuracy thing
I’m sorry to all of those involved, but the chronology presented by Fighting with My Family could ruin it for someone who knows enough about WWE’s history to know when they’re presented with the white-washed WWE-approved version of recent history. They say the victor writes history, and wow WWE had fun streamlining the past.
Paige’s road to the Raw after WrestleMania 30, according to Fighting with My Family, is a tale of working in her parents’ promotion, WAW, in Norwich, England, then being signed to a NXT deal, training, working house shows, and then showing up on TV to beat AJ Lee (played by Thea Trinidad — who you likely know as La Muneca, Zelina Vega) in her main roster debut.
This skips over both Paige’s time in SHIMMER and her time on the rebooted NXT TV, for the sake of creating a fairy-tale narrative, which is great publicity for WWE.
Oh, and while this Paige trains in NXT, she’s working with only former cheerleaders and models, with nary a Sasha Banks or Natalya to be seen. Maybe some of these magazine-pretty talents, who she judges unfairly at times, she’s training with are supposed to represent Summer Rae or Audrey Marie, but it’s clear that the film is playing with the timeline a little, for dramatic effect.
Fighting with My Family also presents an extremely kind portrayal of the talent development that took place during the years Paige spent in NXT. Instead of showing trainers similar to the notorious Bill DeMott (who’s been accused of terrorizing talent), you get ...
Vince Vaughn stealing the god damn movie
In the trailers for Fighting with My Family, I kept thinking Vince Vaughn was going to be phoning this one in. Turns out, dear reader, I was wrong. Vaughn’s work as “Hutch” is rock solid, providing great banter and some insights into how some this industry works.
Hutch tries to break down the differences between stars and those who support them, to Paige. Throughout the movie, you learn that (predictably) he knows this all from experience, and small moments he shares with The Rock, pay a bit of an ode to the pro wrestlers whose work helps major names on their path.
Don’t expect a ton of wrestler cameos, though
While the film features producer The Rock in a prominent role, any other familiar faces are few and far between. The best you’ll get is The Big Show and Sheamus getting a funny scene about food, and a moment with The Miz, while UK talent including Jody Fleisch, Kip Sabian, Dave Mastiff, Darrell Allen, Adam Maxted, Paul Robinson and Nathan Cruz (in order of decreasing time on screen) have blink-and-you’ll-miss-them moments.
So, overall?
I didn’t go to a free screening of Fighting with My Family, I paid standard (outrageous) NYC prices for my ticket, and ... I’m happy with my decision. This is a sanitized version of history, but what should we expect from a movie that WWE promotes? Of course, Fighting with My Family ends at the Raw after ‘Mania 30, giving a feel good moment, and doesn’t touch Paige’s troubled following years, which nobody needs to be reminded of.
Which is why I really have to scratch my head at The Rock referring to Hutch as “Sex Tape” at the end of the film. It’s a really unnecessary riff, and something that should not have been included.
Overall, though? Remember it’s a WWE Studios production and go have a good time with Fighting with My Family.