Beyond the Mat Review
by Christopher Null (cnull AT mindspring DOT com)October 23rd, 2000
BEYOND THE MAT
A film review by Christopher Null
Copyright 2000 filmcritic.com
filmcritic.com
Pro wrestling is fake, right? Absolutely. The fights are
choreographed, the winners are predetermined, and everything that
happens is carefully staged.
But the violence is real, like when The Rock repeatedly pummels
Mankind with a folding chair. And that isn't cow's blood running down
his head afterwards as he rolls around on the mat, apparently
incoherent.
Barry Blaustein's eye-popping documentary gets behind the scenes of
the WWF and other wrestling organizations to show us their true skin,
warts and all. It certainly isn't pretty. Run by the malevolent Vince
McMahon, a latter-day Satan if I've ever seen one, the WWF is crucified
as little more than a money machine that preys upon the weaknesses of
its performers to enrich the mafia-like family that runs the show. And
this is a film that comes from a self-professed wrestling fan... imagine
what a less enthralled observer might have had to say.
Though we spend time with perhaps 30 wrestling stars, Beyond the
Mat largely focuses on three of the sport's performers. Most in the
foreground is Terry Funk, a legendary wrestler with 30 years of history,
portrayed as an aging godfather and a battered veteran. Mick Foley (aka
Mankind) is probably the most sympathetic of the group -- on stage he's
a masked lunatic who can absorb an awful lot of pain, at home he's a
loving family man that seems remarkably well adjusted. Last is Jake
"The Snake" Roberts, portrayed as, well, a snake. Haunted by a past
riddled with demons (beginning when his father raped and impregnated his
13-year-old mother), Roberts is a drug-addicted fallen star,
understandably alienated from his family and living his life as a
borderline criminal. Watching his self-destructive behavior is nothing
short of fascinating.
While Beyond the Mat shows plenty of gruesome footage from inside
the ring, the film's strongest parts are its candid interviews with the
stars at home. It's hard to think of a wrestler as a real person, but
they really do represent a true cross-section of the good and the bad in
America, just like the rest of society. Blaustein unfortunately rambles
on far too long with his voice-over, talking incessantly about himself
and his relationship with the wrestlers, and how he feels about
everything (and on the DVD, there's even a strange commentary track so
you can hear Blaustein comment about how he feels talking about how he
was talking about his feelings). Never mind that we really don't know
who Blaustein is and we certainly don't care about him.
But Beyond the Mat's technical problems are dismissible considering
the gripping power of its subject matter. It's hard to explain why a
movie about wrestlers is so compelling, but it's probably the same thing
that makes the WWF itself so popular. Just like a Royal Rumble, there's
a story playing out for us on the screen. Only in Beyond the Mat, the
story happens to be true.
RATING: ***1/2
|------------------------------|
\ ***** Perfection \
\ **** Good, memorable film \
\ *** Average, hits and misses \
\ ** Sub-par on many levels \
\ * Unquestionably awful \
|------------------------------|
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Barry W. Blaustein
Producer: Barry W. Blaustein, Barry Bloom, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard,
Michael Rosenberg
Writer: Barry W. Blaustein
Starring: Mick Foley, Terry Funk, Jake Roberts
http://www.beyondthemat.net
---
Christopher Null - null@filmcritic.com - http://www.filmcritic.com
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=filmcriticcom&path=subst/video/sellers/amazon-top-100-dvd.html Movie Fiends: Check out Amazon.com's Top 100 Hot DVDs!
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
