MOVIE: ‘Fighting With My Family’ arm wrestles the competition

Paul O’Rourke

IT’S hard to know why the fakery of American style wrestling never took hold this side of the Atlantic. 

And while many would speculate as to the reason, it’s fair to say we never warmed to the more honest Greek style wrestling either. 

But the ’E’ in WWE stands for ‘Entertainment’ and WWE are in the business of show, just as much as the folks in Hollywood.

Speaking of which, it’s perhaps WWE’s biggest name, ‘The Rock’, who headlines in the latest offering from WWE studios (yes, they actually have a movie division). 

‘Fighting With My Family’ attempts to build that cross Atlantic bridge by telling the real life story of Norwich based would-be wrestler, Saraya Berris. 

And with UK funny man Stephen Merchant writing and directing, the result is a film that feels as much British as anything else. 

Florence Pugh does a fine job in the lead role with amusing support from Nick Frost as her dad, and Vince Vaughn as the coach. 

This film can best be described as entertaining, which is appropriate, and we award it a review score of 3.5 enjoyable stars.   

Another recent release that is anything but entertaining, is ‘What They Had’, which tells the story of siblings struggling to cope with elderly parents, one of whom suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. 

Despite a strong cast that includes Hilary Swank and Michael Shannon, the film offers little to inspire, and feels like it would have been a better fit for the small screen.

Finally, a more cinematic offering arrives in the form of ‘The Aftermath’, which stars Keira Knightley as the wife of a British army officer stationed in post WWII Hamburg. 

When the couple occupy the home of local architect Stefan (Alexander Skarsgard), they make the crucial error of allowing him to stay. 

While the film does examine the fascinating subject of how victorious British soldiers treated the Germans, it’s the love story that takes over, and the film suffers somewhat as a result. Nonetheless, it’s a solid production that delivers the type of wartime romance many desire. We score it 3 solid stars.