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Fighting With My Family is based on the life story of WWE wrestler Paige. Florence Pugh (Outlaw King, The Little Drummer Girl) plays Saraya, who would later assume the wrestling persona Paige." The film begins as a portrait of wrestling-obsessed family life in working class Norwich in the United Kingdom, then follows Paige as she moves to the States, where her goth sensibilities clash with that of her fellow female wrestlers, and builds to her climactic Divas Champion fight with AJ Lee at WWE Raw.
Its not what you might expect from producer The Rock. Dwayne Johnson is best known for going big in his movies, usually playing action heroes or broad comedy characters. And while Fighting With My Family is a comedy, its much smaller than what weve come to expect from him. The movie was made with a budget of just $11 million, co-financed by WWE, and is much quirkier than Johnsons other projects, thanks in no small part to a script by Stephen Merchant, who also directs.
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Its been a Rock-y road to release Because the film is such a departure from Johnsons brand, Seven Bucks had some trouble finding a distributor, which led to it being screened at Sundance Film Festival. We wanted a studio to buy into it, and no one did, Johnson told The Hollywood Reporter at the festival. We got passed on everywhere. It was a small British comedy about a crazy wrestling family that wasnt famous. Dany Garcia, Johnsons co-CEO at Seven Bucks, added that he believes there is still a certain stigma around portraying wrestling in film compared to other sports.
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The Rock only plays a relatively small role. This is Paiges story, and so Johnson steps away from the spotlight in Fighting With My Family, playing himself in a cameo which mirrors true events. But dont worry, the film is rounded out by a great overall cast, including writer and director Merchant, Lena Headey (Game of Thrones), Vince Vaughn (True Detective), and Nick Frost (Hot Fuzz).
Fighting With My Family is garnering good reviews. Critical response to the film at Sundance has been largely positive, with Varietys Dennis Harvey calling Fighting With My Family as probably the best of the 50-odd movies WWE has produced since 2002s The Scorpion King, a feat he credits to the warmth and good humor Merchant brings to the material, as well as the excellent cast.
Meanwhile, Entertainment Weeklys Leah Greenblatt calls the film a goofy WWE comedy with heart, saying: Most of Fightings narrative moves are as choreographed as any undercard match-and the outcome as clearly forecast-but the tears brought on by the movies last ten minutes of rhinestoned Rocky triumph taste salty, and real.
The consensus seems to be that there is something here for WWE aficionados and average filmgoers alike. The wrestling fans floated out fo the theaters, Johnson said after the festival premiere. And the non-wrestling fans, the ones who have a bit more heightened taste in terms of their movies, they were just pleasantly surprised.