Beyond the Mat

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Stay 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.

Variety Robert Koehler

A gently and genuinely observed film whose subject is a garish, artificial display of mayhem.

Baltimore Sun Milton Kent

What the film does, brilliantly, is provoke the intelligent fan to wonder if there's a limit to how far the proceedings can go.

TNT RoughCut Chad Damiani

Professional wrestling might not be real, folks -- but, after watching this poignant and simple documentary, you might start questioning where the make-believe begins.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

Frighteningly, grippingly real.

Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector

All the macho men who let down their guard for Blaustein can be proud of the loving deconstruction of violence-as-entertainment that resulted.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

You don't have to love WWF scrapping to appreciate this movie.

Austin Chronicle Russell Smith

A center ring extravaganza of smackdown movie entertainment

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

Suggests that professional wrestling is more than a multibillion-dollar industry: It's also a way of life.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Doesn't shy from the ugly side, though it's far from the no-holds-barred exposé being touted in the ads.

Boston Globe Jay Carr

Wrestling gets in America's face and Blaustein gets in wrestling's face. It's a fascinating tango.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Isn't a slick documentary; some of it feels like Blaustein's home movie about being a wrestling fan. But it has a hypnotic quality.

USA Today Staff [Not Credited]

The match winners and losers may be preordained, but these modern-day gladiators bleed plenty of real blood.

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Stack

A skillful exposition of the pain of pro wrestling, and the high price participants pay in terms of physical and ego injuries.

Film.com Robert Horton

Takes an easy target and turns it into something naggingly weird.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

A behind-the-scenes documentary that manages to be unabashedly sympathetic without being a puff piece.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

Connects the antics of professional wrestlers with their lives out of the ring with such compassion, humor and perception that the result is utterly captivating.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

Wants to blend thrills and pathos, getting at the many sides of what is, as Mr. Blaustein describes it, a carny act.

LA Weekly David Davis

Blaustein's journey seems not to have shaken his convictions; he still embraces pro wrestling, warts and all.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Often has the rambling feeling of a home movie Blaustein made for his buddies.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

Doesn't flinch from the serious stuff.

Chicago Tribune John Petrakis

Surprisingly lacking in revelatory moments.

San Francisco Examiner Edvins Beitiks

Trouble is, it's too close-up.