As a previous reviewer observed, this movie is more about the dynamics of a particular family than wrestling. Which was fine with me, as I have no interest in what is called "professional" i.e., scripted wrestling, which is more spectacle than sport.
How the matches are sketched out in advance is not the subject of this movie. We see one brief example of this, but nothing more.
Rather, this is the story of the von Erich family. The father had a mildly successful career in professional wrestling. When his day is over, he convinces all four of his sons to follow in his footsteps, even though some of them would rather do other things. Dad keeps pushing them until they fall apart, in one way or the other.
I have no idea how close to the historical reality this movie is, and don't care. For the facts, I would turn to documentaries or books, neither of which this pretends to be.
I had hoped that it would be a good drama. For me, it was not. I found the characters to be emotionally flat. And there are many unanswered questions, that might have made the four boys' faithful devotion to their emotionless and manipulative dad easier to understand.
The fact that none of these four healthy young men had any real interest in women - or men - seemed strange.
One point left me particularly puzzled. Near the end of the movie, when Kevin is in bed with his wife one morning, their two largely androgenous young children run in and hop in bed with them . The mother calls them "girls." Later, when they are playing football with Kevin, he refers to them as boys. They both have long blond hair and could be either. What gives? What was the director up to?
If you're a wrestling fan, you'll probably be bothered by the lack of fidelity to the historical facts. If you're not, I don't know why this would interest you, as the characters aren't that interesting.
Unless you want to spend two hours looking at muscular guys in their briefs.
How the matches are sketched out in advance is not the subject of this movie. We see one brief example of this, but nothing more.
Rather, this is the story of the von Erich family. The father had a mildly successful career in professional wrestling. When his day is over, he convinces all four of his sons to follow in his footsteps, even though some of them would rather do other things. Dad keeps pushing them until they fall apart, in one way or the other.
I have no idea how close to the historical reality this movie is, and don't care. For the facts, I would turn to documentaries or books, neither of which this pretends to be.
I had hoped that it would be a good drama. For me, it was not. I found the characters to be emotionally flat. And there are many unanswered questions, that might have made the four boys' faithful devotion to their emotionless and manipulative dad easier to understand.
The fact that none of these four healthy young men had any real interest in women - or men - seemed strange.
One point left me particularly puzzled. Near the end of the movie, when Kevin is in bed with his wife one morning, their two largely androgenous young children run in and hop in bed with them . The mother calls them "girls." Later, when they are playing football with Kevin, he refers to them as boys. They both have long blond hair and could be either. What gives? What was the director up to?
If you're a wrestling fan, you'll probably be bothered by the lack of fidelity to the historical facts. If you're not, I don't know why this would interest you, as the characters aren't that interesting.
Unless you want to spend two hours looking at muscular guys in their briefs.