Fighting with My Family

Saraya-Jade Bevis (Florence Pugh) was raised by parents, Ricky (Nick Frost) and Julia (Lena Headley) Knight, who run a minor-league wrestling league in Norwich, England. At first, Saraya wasn’t interested in joining their troupe but, after an exhibition bout with her ambitious big brother Zak Zodiac (Jack Lowden), she became enthused. As Saraya and Zak set their sights on the WWE, they have a chance encounter with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who urges them to be themselves and not try to imitate anyone else. Talent scout/coach Hutch Morgan (Vince Vaughn) wants to promote 18-year-old Saraya, but not Zak, which causes a crisis since despairing Zak has a growing family. Goth-girl Saraya then rebrands herself as Paige, named after a favorite character played by Rose McGowan on TV’s Charmed. When Paige arrives at the WWE’s NXT training facility in Orlando, she faces not only loneliness but also disillusionment, discovering that her fellow recruits are conventionally sexy blonde bikini-clad models/dancers, and she struggles to keep up with the physical and psychological challenges. Meanwhile, her family back home also grapples with change. As pro wrestling fans know, flamboyant Paige became WWE’s Divas Champion, but after a sex-tape hacking and an injury in the ring, she retired from wrestling at age 26. Writer-director Stephen Merchant’s simplistic bio-pic is an often predictable, triumph-of-the-underdog tale that will still appeal to wrestling fans. A strong optional purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by writer-director Stephen Merchant, “A Family’s Passion” making-of featurette (9 min.), a behind-the-scenes segment on “Learning the Moves” (3 min.), deleted and extended scenes (9 min.), and a gag reel (3 min.). Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are bonus DVD and digital copies of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for an uneven bio-pic.] (S. Granger)