- Critic Score
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100Stay far, far away unless you can handle the copious amounts of blood--and agonizing psychological problems-- that its participants face on what seems like a daily basis.
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90A gently and genuinely observed film whose subject is a garish, artificial display of mayhem.
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What the film does, brilliantly, is provoke the intelligent fan to wonder if there's a limit to how far the proceedings can go.
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85Professional wrestling might not be real, folks -- but, after watching this poignant and simple documentary, you might start questioning where the make-believe begins.
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83Frighteningly, grippingly real.
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80You don't have to love WWF scrapping to appreciate this movie.
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80All the macho men who let down their guard for Blaustein can be proud of the loving deconstruction of violence-as-entertainment that resulted.
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78A center ring extravaganza of smackdown movie entertainment
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75Isn't a slick documentary; some of it feels like Blaustein's home movie about being a wrestling fan. But it has a hypnotic quality.
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75Suggests that professional wrestling is more than a multibillion-dollar industry: It's also a way of life.
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75Doesn't shy from the ugly side, though it's far from the no-holds-barred exposé being touted in the ads.
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75A skillful exposition of the pain of pro wrestling, and the high price participants pay in terms of physical and ego injuries.
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75The match winners and losers may be preordained, but these modern-day gladiators bleed plenty of real blood.
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75Wrestling gets in America's face and Blaustein gets in wrestling's face. It's a fascinating tango.
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70A behind-the-scenes documentary that manages to be unabashedly sympathetic without being a puff piece.
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70Blaustein's journey seems not to have shaken his convictions; he still embraces pro wrestling, warts and all.
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70Takes an easy target and turns it into something naggingly weird.
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70Connects the antics of professional wrestlers with their lives out of the ring with such compassion, humor and perception that the result is utterly captivating.
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70Wants to blend thrills and pathos, getting at the many sides of what is, as Mr. Blaustein describes it, a carny act.
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67Often has the rambling feeling of a home movie Blaustein made for his buddies.
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63Doesn't flinch from the serious stuff.
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50Surprisingly lacking in revelatory moments.
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Trouble is, it's too close-up.
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User score distribution:
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Positive: 3 out of 3
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Mixed: 0 out of 3
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Negative: 0 out of 3
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AzF.10A real inside look at pro-wrestling.