King Kamala
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That scene I kind of interpreted it as the Von Erichs respect kayfabe where as Flair is just a showoff that doesn't care about the integrity of this damn business.
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- Thread starter King Kamala
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Epic Springs
Epic Reine
Looks like a very vocal corner of social media keep dragging Flair's portrayal in the movie. Us wrestling dorks know how the real Nature Boy carries himself but the average moviegoer won't give a shit. I thought the performance, while wildly inaccurate, was hysterical.
King Kamala
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BUTT
Kreese
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OK I saw this a few days ago. First off, the main cast was really good especially the guy who played Fritz. Big Daddy Zac and the Bear are good at portraying general Von Erich vibes even if they didn't really capture the actual Kevin or Kerry. The guys who played David and Mike seemed pretty on point, not that I've seen much of either of those guys.
So now I'm going to nitpick to death because that's what I do. Every narrative decision this film makes seemed to be in service of making the story shorter. I know it's mainly Kevin's story so everything has to be filtered through his point of view. But for instance, David's death. We never see him in Japan. We never see David Manning coming to the house at 5AM and Fritz opening the door and saying "which one?" And we certainly don't hear anything about the likely overdose that caused his death and the subsequent coverup by Baba. Just "David died in Japan. Ruptured intestine." "How does that happen?" And boom onto the next scene.
So yes, I know for this kind of movie you don't want to wallow in the sleaze but if they did a full eight or ten episode streaming series and portrayed everything as it actually happened, it would be far more interesting than this movie. They showed them going to church but didn't have time to get into Fritz being born again, the TV airing on Pat Robertson's station, Fritz's appearances on the 700 Club and the introduction of the official World Class chaplain. Fritz giving Kerry steroids when he was 15. David's marriage and the death of his daughter from SIDS. Fritz's using his brief time on the SMU football team as a springboard into Dallas's business community and him becoming a real estate millionaire. The strange popularity of their TV in Israel. Kerry's getting busted with drugs at the airport and the fans thinking the Freebirds framed him. Kevin's real collapse in the ring and Fritz's fake Christmas day heart attack. Mike getting busted for beating up a doctor or the DUI that immediately preceded his suicide. The several day period when they knew Mike was dead but before they found the body and how they tried to manage their family's image in the meantime. Kerry's multiple drug arrests that preceded his suicide. Fritz giving Kerry the gun which he use to shoot himself. Fritz telling Kevin he doesn't have the guts to kill himself. Of course the existence of Chris, growing up idolizing his brothers and watching the downfall as a young teen, having asthma and brittle bones, and double teaming chicks with Mike. And Doris blaming Fritz for Chris's death and leaving him, which the movie alludes for like 15 seconds but that's it.
Of course I'm now talking about a different project that exists only in my head. And stories like this aren't made for the people who know all the details. But I'll echo what Meltzer said in that you never really get a feel for how big it was. They're portrayed as sort of low rent regional celebs in a family wrestling business as opposed to the localized Jonas Brothers-level phenomenon that they actually were. Part of it is that for budget reasons, almost every match is shown taking place at the Sportatorium when they often drew big crowds in the Reunion Arena. David's funeral was mobbed by thousands of fans but you don't see that in the movie. The Parade of Champions is briefly shown but there's no context for how huge that kind of crowd was in those days. They don't even depict their pizza commercial!
I know this all makes me sound like a hater but I'm really not. It's still the second best wrestling movie behind The Wrestler. But I was very excited when I read that this movie was being made, thinking one of the most interesting stories in wrestling was coming to this screen, and this movie told about quarter of it, mostly due to time constraints but also in an effort to rehabilitate and sanitize the Von Erich legacy.
So now I'm going to nitpick to death because that's what I do. Every narrative decision this film makes seemed to be in service of making the story shorter. I know it's mainly Kevin's story so everything has to be filtered through his point of view. But for instance, David's death. We never see him in Japan. We never see David Manning coming to the house at 5AM and Fritz opening the door and saying "which one?" And we certainly don't hear anything about the likely overdose that caused his death and the subsequent coverup by Baba. Just "David died in Japan. Ruptured intestine." "How does that happen?" And boom onto the next scene.
So yes, I know for this kind of movie you don't want to wallow in the sleaze but if they did a full eight or ten episode streaming series and portrayed everything as it actually happened, it would be far more interesting than this movie. They showed them going to church but didn't have time to get into Fritz being born again, the TV airing on Pat Robertson's station, Fritz's appearances on the 700 Club and the introduction of the official World Class chaplain. Fritz giving Kerry steroids when he was 15. David's marriage and the death of his daughter from SIDS. Fritz's using his brief time on the SMU football team as a springboard into Dallas's business community and him becoming a real estate millionaire. The strange popularity of their TV in Israel. Kerry's getting busted with drugs at the airport and the fans thinking the Freebirds framed him. Kevin's real collapse in the ring and Fritz's fake Christmas day heart attack. Mike getting busted for beating up a doctor or the DUI that immediately preceded his suicide. The several day period when they knew Mike was dead but before they found the body and how they tried to manage their family's image in the meantime. Kerry's multiple drug arrests that preceded his suicide. Fritz giving Kerry the gun which he use to shoot himself. Fritz telling Kevin he doesn't have the guts to kill himself. Of course the existence of Chris, growing up idolizing his brothers and watching the downfall as a young teen, having asthma and brittle bones, and double teaming chicks with Mike. And Doris blaming Fritz for Chris's death and leaving him, which the movie alludes for like 15 seconds but that's it.
Of course I'm now talking about a different project that exists only in my head. And stories like this aren't made for the people who know all the details. But I'll echo what Meltzer said in that you never really get a feel for how big it was. They're portrayed as sort of low rent regional celebs in a family wrestling business as opposed to the localized Jonas Brothers-level phenomenon that they actually were. Part of it is that for budget reasons, almost every match is shown taking place at the Sportatorium when they often drew big crowds in the Reunion Arena. David's funeral was mobbed by thousands of fans but you don't see that in the movie. The Parade of Champions is briefly shown but there's no context for how huge that kind of crowd was in those days. They don't even depict their pizza commercial!
I know this all makes me sound like a hater but I'm really not. It's still the second best wrestling movie behind The Wrestler. But I was very excited when I read that this movie was being made, thinking one of the most interesting stories in wrestling was coming to this screen, and this movie told about quarter of it, mostly due to time constraints but also in an effort to rehabilitate and sanitize the Von Erich legacy.
King Kamala
Integral Poster
I know it’s cliche to say a movie should’ve/could’ve been a mini series when a lot of mini series could have been whittled down to movies but this really should’ve/could’ve been a mini series.
It felt like a Cliff’s Notes/PG-13 version of the story. Movie might have gotten a R Rating but probably wouldn’t need more than 30 seconds of cuts to get to PG-13.
It felt like a Cliff’s Notes/PG-13 version of the story. Movie might have gotten a R Rating but probably wouldn’t need more than 30 seconds of cuts to get to PG-13.
RedJed
Rasslin' Rambler
I'm with yall on that I wish this would have been at least a 6 part series, maybe even double that quite frankly. In that aspect, I envision how things would be handled if you used each first half of the series as a specific study/breakdown on each character. You start with a pilot which would break down things in a general way/overview about the history of WCCW and the Von Erichs and maybe even go a full 90 minutes without getting into the meat and potatoes of everyone. Then each episode from there is focused towards a specific Von Erich brother and their downfall.....or in Kevins case a more uplifting end to the series.
There was so much backstory and connecting of dots being left out of the script. Things moved way too fast in trying to explain situations that needed time to breathe. Also what needed time to breathe was the aftermath of the deaths. Instead it went from one to the next in rapid fashion in that last act. What was missing also from the film was a massive amount of context in how and why were things happening and how it played into perhaps something in the past.
I did a rewatch over the weekend and found myself enjoying the film more a second time around, but still wishing kind of what could have been with all this.
Does anyone see any award nominations come from this? I doubt it unfortunately.
There was so much backstory and connecting of dots being left out of the script. Things moved way too fast in trying to explain situations that needed time to breathe. Also what needed time to breathe was the aftermath of the deaths. Instead it went from one to the next in rapid fashion in that last act. What was missing also from the film was a massive amount of context in how and why were things happening and how it played into perhaps something in the past.
I did a rewatch over the weekend and found myself enjoying the film more a second time around, but still wishing kind of what could have been with all this.
Does anyone see any award nominations come from this? I doubt it unfortunately.
King Kamala
Integral Poster
Zac Efron is getting a little bit of Oscar buzz and deservedly so. I would be surprised but not shocked to see him get a Best Actor nod since Hollywood loves a good comeback story.
Same with Holt McCallany for Best Supporting Actor, minus the comeback story part.
Same with Holt McCallany for Best Supporting Actor, minus the comeback story part.
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They released it too late to really get any significant traction for that but it’s getting a lot of respect from the letterbox community, a lot more than our rasslin community who get hung up on intricate details like a missing sibling or the color of the ropes.
Upon a second viewing, I was really once again captivated by how they hit the feeling of being outside the Sportatorium and I’ve never seen the real thing but it felt right and real.
I’m okay with the flaws because if that’s how Kevin wants to see his family remembered, it’s entirely his choice. The crux of the story is significantly strong and performed well and that’s all I really wanted out of this.
Upon a second viewing, I was really once again captivated by how they hit the feeling of being outside the Sportatorium and I’ve never seen the real thing but it felt right and real.
I’m okay with the flaws because if that’s how Kevin wants to see his family remembered, it’s entirely his choice. The crux of the story is significantly strong and performed well and that’s all I really wanted out of this.
RedJed
Rasslin' Rambler
On that note, Kevin seems to be happy with how things were told but did seem to think Fritz was made to be harder edged and cold-hearted more than he wanted him to be remembered by. Word was that possibly the more heavier instances of Fritz coming off like the villain of it all may have been added in some reshoots/re-edits after some testing.
King Kamala
Integral Poster
Apparently, the original screeenplay was even softer and dewy eyed about the Von Erichs but the producers told Sean Durkin that there needed to be some grit in there.
From the 1-2 press interviews I saw with Durkin, he seems like the type of person who feel the same about wrestling now as he did as a 10 year old, which is nice but doesn’t make for necessarily compelling dramatic filmmaking.
From the 1-2 press interviews I saw with Durkin, he seems like the type of person who feel the same about wrestling now as he did as a 10 year old, which is nice but doesn’t make for necessarily compelling dramatic filmmaking.
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Kreese
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Also I guess having their show on ESPN was supposed to show that they were a big deal to an audience who wouldn’t know that ESPN was not exactly the Worldwide Leader when WCCW was actually on it and was an even scrubbier network several years earlier when the film erroneously depicts them getting on. They also could at least have had a line about how popular they were in New England. And as I mentioned above Israel but then again you wouldn’t want college kids to boycott the film.
I found the pacing of this movie to be pretty bad. It's like they were writing the script and then remembered they needed to put all the sad stuff in there. It was also difficult to know at times how much time had passed. Kevin and Flair have their match (in 86, I think) and the next thing you know they're watching Kerry in the WWF.
The scene after Kerry dies is weird, too. It doesn't help that White is so much shorter than the other brothers that his head is barely in frame when they're doing that group hug.
I liked it overall and I can deal with any historical inaccuracies (I only really know the basics of the story), but I was a bit disappointed.
The scene after Kerry dies is weird, too. It doesn't help that White is so much shorter than the other brothers that his head is barely in frame when they're doing that group hug.
I liked it overall and I can deal with any historical inaccuracies (I only really know the basics of the story), but I was a bit disappointed.
RedJed
Rasslin' Rambler
One thing I found additionally kinda odd was the focus on hatred towards the NWA by Fritz. I never heard of any backstory on this at all so it felt like it was a weird and unnecessary element added to, I guess, just showcase Fritz being a miserable dude? I mean fuck, Kerry got the NWA title. David was scheduled to probably get it before he died. It's not like the NWA board members had a vendetta against WCCW or the Von Erichs from what I can gather?!
But yah the ESPN context was all off as WCCW didn't even air on ESPN I think until after they were starting to go under and the episodes aired as "Legends of World Class" if I recall. AWA had that spot first from my recollection.
But yah that pacing was real weird. I felt really disattached emotionally to the deaths in the way they presented them by, well....not really presenting them as the big deals that they were.
But yah the ESPN context was all off as WCCW didn't even air on ESPN I think until after they were starting to go under and the episodes aired as "Legends of World Class" if I recall. AWA had that spot first from my recollection.
But yah that pacing was real weird. I felt really disattached emotionally to the deaths in the way they presented them by, well....not really presenting them as the big deals that they were.
BruiserBrody
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In 1986 when they split from the NWA once JCP totally took over the belt/champ booking? As late as early 86 Flair was still doing territory shots.
The timing on the split was about as bad as possible as it was almost the same time as Kerry's wreck IIRC. Mike was still out at that point as well. Kevin is working an extremely limited schedule as well. 2 matches in May. 5 in June.
--
I'm probably going to toss Bix and Kris Zellner 5 bucks for their Patreon pod on the deaths of the Von Erichs they just released
The timing on the split was about as bad as possible as it was almost the same time as Kerry's wreck IIRC. Mike was still out at that point as well. Kevin is working an extremely limited schedule as well. 2 matches in May. 5 in June.
--
I'm probably going to toss Bix and Kris Zellner 5 bucks for their Patreon pod on the deaths of the Von Erichs they just released
Epic Springs
Epic Reine
It seems a lot of the people who weren't feeling this as much happen to be us wrasslin nerds who know the whole story and what was left out/was sensationalized. I know a lot of people who watched this film and the people who have no knowledge of the business loved it while ones who grew up in Texas in the 80s thought it was ok at best. No one thought it was a dud, but I just found that interesting.
The Wrestler was a more relatable story about someone down from their glory days hence the more universal praise.
The Wrestler was a more relatable story about someone down from their glory days hence the more universal praise.
King Kamala
Integral Poster
Aging hipster I kind of know on my Threads feed (not Inc) saw it twice in its opening weekend cause it was “an excellent meditation on grief and toxic masculinity.”
That type of person likes most anything with the A24 brand on it.
That type of person likes most anything with the A24 brand on it.
that scene where mopheaded Ross and Marshall tell their dad that it’s OK to cry is the one that got me verklempt.
King Kamala
Integral Poster
George went on to become one of the producers of this film.
saw this tonight. there was like 15 other people there despite it being out so long and it snowing so I was impressed. I thought this was really solid and a fun time. I'd echo the "second best wrestling movie" talk. The only thing that stood out as bad was the Ric Flair scene as it totally took me and the people I was with out of the movie.
King Kamala
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The Iron Claw Kevin Von Erich Action Figure
Modern-day warrior, mean, mean stride. Deliver a good ol' fashioned Texas whooping with The Iron Claw Kevin Von Erich Action Figure.
shop.a24films.com
“ope! Cripes! $48! I’ll just hope it lowers by the time me and my buddies go to the Waukegan Toy Fair.”
Dandy
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Well, he kind of is by default.
Valeyard
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I finally had the chance to sit and watch this. I'll probably echo a bunch of this thread, but still.
--Big Daddy Zac Efron and Jeremy Allen White should've swapped roles. It's mostly a physical thing but also because Efron, while very good, was just not Kevin in the slightest. He had great moments when he was allowed to be intense, but they were surprisingly few and far between, and I'm sorry but Kevin looking so physically superior to Kerry doesn't work and casting Efron made his work much harder for him. White is capable of carrying Kevin's personality and struggles as presented so much better and would also look like a Von Erich instead of a guy playing a Von Erich. Both of them did great but they were in the wrong roles, and I found that really distracting. It made it from a potential great movie into a good one. I wanna know why no one but Kevin and his parents had personal lives.
--It felt like they got lost with so many characters and telling the story in a way that makes sense. It isn't just a timeline thing (although that is so huge and cannot be understated), it just feels like there were definitely times it was more about giving characters time vs developing them. That's why this works better as a miniseries. We learn nothing about David outside of he loves his brothers and got sick, for instance, and he's arguably the most important character because that's when the downfall starts. I get that the intention is for it to be from Kevin's point of view, but even thinking of it like that it's weird how little we get to know about his brothers and the world. Kerry goes from being disappointed at not being in the Olympics to wanting to be a star without much of a journey happening beyond it feeling like what needed to happen for the story to progess. Doris did not get enough time and Maura Tierney was maybe my favorite performance (being afraid to wear the funeral dress because everyone would recognize it is heartbreaking and performed perfectly). It's like they forgot they had a mom sometimes. Fritz is the best performance in the movie but even he gets rotated out for a while. It's just too much for the film format.
--Mike and David were awesome. That kinda surprised me since I don't know who either of them are. David especially nailed it. It's too bad the script did both of them a disservice. The press conference was very good, and Mike's injury is one of my favorite shots of the movie. Frtiz was fantastic and it still felt like he didn't get enough to do. If this was them adding scenes to make him a villain, they still went really easy on him. And I'm sorry but Chris should not have been omitted because he's the most tragic figure, and just from a filmmaking perspective would've given Maura Tierney the best scenes of the movie and probably a nom. It's also sorta fucked that Chris is part of the white wash.
--Flair was worse than I expected. How do you fuck that up? But then Flair shouldn't be in this movie anyway, definitely not if you don't have the Freebirds or Gary Hart as characters. Most of the wrestlers felt somewhat pointless. Having Brody and Hernandez there for one scene was unnecessary bait for people like me. Lance was actually needed, though, and would've given Fritz some good moments.
--They did a HORRIBLE job at world building. There is no scale given to how big they were or how big the territory was. David's funeral procession was legendary. They're presented as both smalltime hometown guys and national superstars, and it doesn't work how they've done it. The territorial aspect presents some really interesting ways to showcase fame but it never gets built on, and they don't explain enough of the business side of things to make either side make sense. I guess I was expecting more about how the brothers actually worked together for character reasons, because that's literally their thing, and I didn't get that. Kerry going to the WWF is weird timeline-wise as it is but up to then they don't talk about the WWF at all or why him going is a big deal, and yes I know in reality the gravity of it, but considering how much time was spent about the NWA being the major focus and presenting WCCW as a major promotion it would've been nice to get more about the WWF's place in this world. Actually explaining the decline of attendence and the death of the promotion was a pretty vital thing that they tiptoed around, for some reason. The reason I like the shot of Mike getting hurt is because it shows that the Sportatorium is almost empty, and that business was dying...only for that to never get brought up or even be consistent (to be fair they aren't beholden to the size of the Von Erich Ranch either). Like there's so many elements of that end that are genuinely compelling we don't get.
--I don't get how kayfabe is supposed to work. Or is the intention to believe the Von Erichs are fucking stupid and think everything is real in this world?
--The pacing is atrocious. Maybe I'm just in a mood or something but it felt like nothing fit together. As soon as David dies, they had to work in literally every tragedy in what was less than a year. It reminded me of that Three Stooges biopic with Chiklis where they hit the hour or whatever mark and are all "oh yeah Curley and Shemp are dead." Due to there being too many character, we don't get enough time to really connect like we should, so it doesn't hit like it could. Montages are used as crutches, and there are a lot of scenes in pretty rapid succession where it's just an excuse to use music. Like they aren't montages but they're just there to play a song over, and it's super distracting. The editing in a lot of places is really weird to me to where I'm curious how often these people were in the same place at the same time.
I liked this movie, though. But man it could've been something truly special and instead was just good. But I've written papers on the Von Erichs for classes and have done scripts for this story since I was in high school and I'm super invested in what I think are important things and not a cliff's notes story. But like I don't know who this movie is for, either, because I feel like you can't appreciate the best parts without knowing the story but if you know the story the movie will piss you off because of how it decides to tell only some parts of it. But I know enough people who loved this and went in with what I thought were realistic expectations, and I just thought it was a good movie but a bad telling of the story. And as someone who has waited most of their life for this exact movie to be made, that's just not good enough.
--Big Daddy Zac Efron and Jeremy Allen White should've swapped roles. It's mostly a physical thing but also because Efron, while very good, was just not Kevin in the slightest. He had great moments when he was allowed to be intense, but they were surprisingly few and far between, and I'm sorry but Kevin looking so physically superior to Kerry doesn't work and casting Efron made his work much harder for him. White is capable of carrying Kevin's personality and struggles as presented so much better and would also look like a Von Erich instead of a guy playing a Von Erich. Both of them did great but they were in the wrong roles, and I found that really distracting. It made it from a potential great movie into a good one. I wanna know why no one but Kevin and his parents had personal lives.
--It felt like they got lost with so many characters and telling the story in a way that makes sense. It isn't just a timeline thing (although that is so huge and cannot be understated), it just feels like there were definitely times it was more about giving characters time vs developing them. That's why this works better as a miniseries. We learn nothing about David outside of he loves his brothers and got sick, for instance, and he's arguably the most important character because that's when the downfall starts. I get that the intention is for it to be from Kevin's point of view, but even thinking of it like that it's weird how little we get to know about his brothers and the world. Kerry goes from being disappointed at not being in the Olympics to wanting to be a star without much of a journey happening beyond it feeling like what needed to happen for the story to progess. Doris did not get enough time and Maura Tierney was maybe my favorite performance (being afraid to wear the funeral dress because everyone would recognize it is heartbreaking and performed perfectly). It's like they forgot they had a mom sometimes. Fritz is the best performance in the movie but even he gets rotated out for a while. It's just too much for the film format.
--Mike and David were awesome. That kinda surprised me since I don't know who either of them are. David especially nailed it. It's too bad the script did both of them a disservice. The press conference was very good, and Mike's injury is one of my favorite shots of the movie. Frtiz was fantastic and it still felt like he didn't get enough to do. If this was them adding scenes to make him a villain, they still went really easy on him. And I'm sorry but Chris should not have been omitted because he's the most tragic figure, and just from a filmmaking perspective would've given Maura Tierney the best scenes of the movie and probably a nom. It's also sorta fucked that Chris is part of the white wash.
--Flair was worse than I expected. How do you fuck that up? But then Flair shouldn't be in this movie anyway, definitely not if you don't have the Freebirds or Gary Hart as characters. Most of the wrestlers felt somewhat pointless. Having Brody and Hernandez there for one scene was unnecessary bait for people like me. Lance was actually needed, though, and would've given Fritz some good moments.
--They did a HORRIBLE job at world building. There is no scale given to how big they were or how big the territory was. David's funeral procession was legendary. They're presented as both smalltime hometown guys and national superstars, and it doesn't work how they've done it. The territorial aspect presents some really interesting ways to showcase fame but it never gets built on, and they don't explain enough of the business side of things to make either side make sense. I guess I was expecting more about how the brothers actually worked together for character reasons, because that's literally their thing, and I didn't get that. Kerry going to the WWF is weird timeline-wise as it is but up to then they don't talk about the WWF at all or why him going is a big deal, and yes I know in reality the gravity of it, but considering how much time was spent about the NWA being the major focus and presenting WCCW as a major promotion it would've been nice to get more about the WWF's place in this world. Actually explaining the decline of attendence and the death of the promotion was a pretty vital thing that they tiptoed around, for some reason. The reason I like the shot of Mike getting hurt is because it shows that the Sportatorium is almost empty, and that business was dying...only for that to never get brought up or even be consistent (to be fair they aren't beholden to the size of the Von Erich Ranch either). Like there's so many elements of that end that are genuinely compelling we don't get.
--I don't get how kayfabe is supposed to work. Or is the intention to believe the Von Erichs are fucking stupid and think everything is real in this world?
--The pacing is atrocious. Maybe I'm just in a mood or something but it felt like nothing fit together. As soon as David dies, they had to work in literally every tragedy in what was less than a year. It reminded me of that Three Stooges biopic with Chiklis where they hit the hour or whatever mark and are all "oh yeah Curley and Shemp are dead." Due to there being too many character, we don't get enough time to really connect like we should, so it doesn't hit like it could. Montages are used as crutches, and there are a lot of scenes in pretty rapid succession where it's just an excuse to use music. Like they aren't montages but they're just there to play a song over, and it's super distracting. The editing in a lot of places is really weird to me to where I'm curious how often these people were in the same place at the same time.
I liked this movie, though. But man it could've been something truly special and instead was just good. But I've written papers on the Von Erichs for classes and have done scripts for this story since I was in high school and I'm super invested in what I think are important things and not a cliff's notes story. But like I don't know who this movie is for, either, because I feel like you can't appreciate the best parts without knowing the story but if you know the story the movie will piss you off because of how it decides to tell only some parts of it. But I know enough people who loved this and went in with what I thought were realistic expectations, and I just thought it was a good movie but a bad telling of the story. And as someone who has waited most of their life for this exact movie to be made, that's just not good enough.
Mickey Massuco
wipeoff
Didn't see it yet. I had so much ref shit going on I stopped going to the theater. And then my mom broke her arm at the shoulder about a month ago and only now do I feel comfortable leaving the house at night so...yeah. Watching new movies has not been on the agenda. Haven't even seen Dune 2 yet.
I really liked it and it's in my top ten of 2023. There's just a lot of inaccuracies. It's nowhere near The Wrestler, but it's easily the second best wrestling movie I've seen.
Zac didn't bother me at all as Kevin. I bought him. And the last twenty minutes was the first time I thought he was great in a movie. He was super hyped, but I never really saw it until his scenes towards the end. I would've nominated him over Brad Cooper and Colman Domingo for best actor.
Jeremy Allen White's height bothered me more. He should of played Chris not Kerry. He was good and had the chaotic energy, but I couldn't buy him as Kerry overall.
I loved the Fritz performance. Dude nailed it, but best supporting actor was a bloodbath this year.
Valeyard
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Yeah I acknowledge I personally am probably being overly-critical but tried really hard not to be. It's objectively a good movie but there are a bunch of problems I have trouble looking past both narratively and from a fillmmaking/writing perspective.
Heavily recommend watching Heroes of World Class either before or after, though. I hadn't seen it in years but it did a fine job of filling in gaps.
Heavily recommend watching Heroes of World Class either before or after, though. I hadn't seen it in years but it did a fine job of filling in gaps.
BUTT
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I hear what you’re saying but even in that case it’s a failure of storytelling. The match where Mike got hurt was in Israel. The fact that the most overtly Christian promotion gained a foothold in the Jewish homeland is a weird and interesting story that would have shown the far-reaching appeal of their TV show but they didn’t have time to include it. Also they weren’t anywhere near dying in ‘85 but they were way past the peak.
King Kamala
Integral Poster
I’d maybe recommend watching it in a few months after the discourse dies down.
It is a solid ***-**1/2 movie but the historical inaccuracies will bother you if you have a rudimentary knowledge about the Von Erichs.
It is a solid ***-**1/2 movie but the historical inaccuracies will bother you if you have a rudimentary knowledge about the Von Erichs.
Valeyard
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- Points
- 253
That kind of thing I'm willing to give a bit of a pass to because of it being a movie vs a miniseries. I know they can't (and wouldn't try to) capture everything even though much more compelling stuff didn't make the movie. That scene is, or at least should've been, just some subtle symbolism and all that, and it wouldn't have bothered me to present that moment as a sign of major decline even if exaggerrated. But the story of their expansion not being a minor plot point at least is baffling and it goes back into the way the movie is awful at world building. It's like the story is told from someone who has never left eastern Texas and discovered wrestling went further in 1993.
I still don't know why it handles kayfabe the exact same way Rocky 3 does, though.