SUNDANCE 2019: FIGHTING WITH MY FAMILY Review

Who doesn’t enjoy an uplifting underdog sports movie? The new film FIGHTING WITH MY FAMILY certainly qualifies as one and if you’re a fan of this particular sub-genre, you’re more than likely to have a good time. While the tropes on display here are incredibly familiar, this entertaining film from writer and director Stephen Merchant and producer Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson still manages to work its magic thanks mostly in part to wonderful cast chemistry.

FIGHTING WITH MY FAMILY follows Saraya Knight, aka Paige (Florence Pugh), as she leaves the comfortable confines of her family wrestling outfit in her native Norwich for the U.S. where she hopes to make it big as a member of the WWE. Along the way, she begins to second guess her own self worth and complicating matters even further are the jealous and somewhat bitter feelings exhibited by her wrestling-loving brother, Zak (Jack Lowden.) Will Saraya prevail? Take a guess!

Those of you who follow the WWE are probably already well aware of Paige but even if you’re not familiar with the name, you’re still likely to find many of the beats in this movie very familiar. That’s okay though because FIGHTING WITH MY FAMILY has plenty of charm and laughs to fall back on. How could it not with this cast?

With her goth, tomboyish appearance, a game Pugh is fantastically entertaining as a spunky Sayara. For all her confidence and knowledge of the sport, though, she turns out to be quite the vulnerable individual, particularly when she gets to the states and finds herself a fish out of water. Rest assured, however, that faster than you can say, Rocky Balboa, she gets her mojo back. Equally effective in this film is a terrific Lowden (who bares an eerie resemblance to a young Simon Pegg.) It says a lot about his work here that even as the down-on-his-luck Zak lets his inner asshole out after being turned down by the WWE, we as viewers never once doubt the love and respect he has for his sister.

Rounding out a wonderfully colorful supporting cast are Nick Frost as one loud but lovable proud papa, Lena Headey as the equally loud but undeniably wise matriarch of the family, an energetic Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson who hits all the right notes as professional wrestler, and a very entertaining Vince Vaughn as a sarcastic but all-knowing WWE talent scout.

To Merchant’s great credit, he does bring a lot of wit to this film both as the writer/director and as a co-star (he plays the somewhat concerned father of the lovely young lady Zak hopes to take as his bride.) Further still, Merchant does manage to bring some unexpected plot points to the film. Be it Sayara coming to the realization that perhaps she’s guilty of judging in the same sort of way that she doesn’t want to be judged or the fashion in which Jack realizes there’s absolutely no shame in being a hometown hero, there are flourishes here that rise above the standard sports movie fare.

FIGHTING WITH MY FAMILY certainly would have benefited from straying from the formula a bit more and it definitely could have used a more rousing climax. The ending of this picture lacks the monumental stand-up-and-cheer punch of a ROCKY, a HOOSIERS, or a MIRACLE but the character beats–most notably the family interactions, the humor, and the very idea that Sayara would work so hard to not sacrifice her real self on the way to success, go a long way to make this familiar underdog sports movie well worth watching.