Worth turning the Paige

is a refreshing tang of flippancy to the way the movie navigates its expected storytelling signposts and cliches.

The film is not quite selfaware as such, but you do get a real sense that the English half of the cast are treating the whole thing a bit less seriously than the American half. It is almost as if Frost, Headey and Lowden are in a different movie altogether, a British comedy that gets mashed up with an American sports movie, with Pugh’s character being the connective tissue between the two worlds. And dammit, it works. Fighting With My Family is lighthearted and easy to watch, so it doesn’t grate at all that its core message of selfacceptance is one of the oldest cliches in the business.

Hard-core wrestling fans will most likely notice there are many liberties taken with Saraya’s true story and career, but they really are quite minor and just a matter of storytelling flow. And when you consider the film has the approval of the WWE, and the real-life Saraya/Paige and her family were all involved as well and love the result, well, I guess they got the heart of the thing right.

Fighting With My Family, much like the WWE, is damn fine entertainment, not to be taken too seriously, and full of laughs, cheers and some surprisingly heartfelt moments.

It’s a corporate product, make no mistake, but it is funny enough and uplifting enough to make sure you just won’t care.

(M) is now showing at Village Cinemas and Reading Cinemas. Rating: