READY TO RUMBLE RATING: 7 /10 --> Good movie
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Okay, so here's kinda how the pitch must've gone down: "We get the guy who directed VARSITY BLUES to make this movie about wrestling (cause it is just like totally hot now!), slap in a couple of dumb teenage characters, like that ultimate weirdo, David Arquette from those SCREAM movies and Scotty Caan, cause he's got a great ass. Toss in a bit of sexual exploitation, via the overly-curvaceous Rose McGowan, a soundtrack filled with bitchin' tunes and all the shit and groin jokes that you could fit into ninety minutes, and by golly, I think "the kids" will go for it!" Well, I ain't no kid, and I ain't much into "rassling", but gosh darnit, this film was pretty funny.
PLOT: Two goofy kids who worship their wrestling hero as a god believe themselves to be his savior when their great champion falls from his reign.
CRITIQUE: Stupid, crass, loud, juvenile, exploitative and most importantly...pretty darn funny! No offense to any morons out there, but if you actually go into this movie expecting anything but cool wrestling scenes, rockin' songs, girls with big boobs, and another awesome shot of Scott Caan's ass, then you're a bigger moron that anyone in this film. If on the other hand, you liked Beavis & Butthead, you liked Bill & Ted's, and you liked, well, Rocky...you will most likely enjoy this passable update of their respective themes. That being established, let's see what was good and bad about the movie. Good: The story is cute and actually convinces with a little heart in the end. Good: The soundtrack is kickass, although whoever decided that it was a better idea to play the remake version of Twisted Sister's classic anthem "We're Not Gonna Take It", as opposed to the original, should literally be slapped silly. Good: Arquette, Caan and even the wrestlers all come out smelling like shit, which in this movie...is a good thing! You'll get what I mean by the 12th caca joke in this film. Honestly though, they were all pretty good in their respective roles.
Good: The wrestling scenes were really cool, only I wish they had included more of them...pretty exciting stuff! Ultimately, the last twenty minutes of the film packed the most punch. Good: Martin Landau's cameo as an old time wrestler. Damn funny! Bad: Not enough Rose McGowan! It's one thing to include her and the Nitro girls as blatant exploitative fodder, but at least if you're gonna go that far...let's see more of them, dammit! Bad: Some jokes work, but others fall flat. It's up and down on that count, with no major laugh out scenes either. Bad: I did enjoy Oliver Platt's drunken Elvis performance, but I generally love his humor, so felt a little disappointed in that he didn't get many better lines. Having said all that, this film is not to be taken seriously. It does provide a small emotional touch in the end, which I thought was nice, but I seriously doubt any movie critic (or adult for that matter) over the age of 40 will enjoy any of this shite! Unless of course, you don't mind seeing an umpteen set of people getting kicked in the groin over and over, enjoy loud rock music, don't mind watching two morons prance around the big screen, and...yes, of course...love that rassling!!
Incidentally, I've always felt like wrestling fans and soap opera fans had a lot in common. They both enjoy watching over-the-top spectacles, most never admit to being an actual fan and they all seem to get really involved in the most absurd plot twists, no matter how ridiculous! The only difference that I've noticed between the two is that wrestling's got more sweaty men...but even that, is pretty similar.
Little Known Facts about this film and its stars: Rose McGowan was born in Florence, Italy and raised in a commune for the Children of God cult (the same folks who had River Phoenix's parents in the early years). She later moved to Oregon, and ran away from home when she was 14, after her parents checked her into a drug rehab program, even though she wasn't - she insists to this day - doing drugs. She lived on the streets for a while, and eventually moved to California, where writer/director Gregg Araki met her outside of a gym and cast her in THE DOOM GENERATION. She is now married to weirdo rocker Marilyn Manson. David Arquette's dad Lewis also makes an appearance in this movie. He also played Chief Louis Hartley in SCREAM 2 (7/10). Scott Caan stand 5'5, is the son of actor James Caan and apparently likes to stand around naked in his cowboy boots, since he does so in both this movie and VARSITY BLUES. Ahmet Zappa, son of the late weird rocker Frank Zappa, plays the convenience store owner in this movie. Some of the wrestlers with appearances in this film include Goldberg, Diamond Dallas Page, Sting, Sid Vicious, Juventud Guerrera, Kidman, Konnan, Rey Mysterio Junior, Disco Inferno and Bam Bam Bigelow. Screenwriter Steven Brill is quite the renaissance man. He's a writer, he wrote the three MIGHTY DUCK movies, an actor, he had parts in all three MIGHTY DUCK films as well as BIG DADDY (7/10) and THE WEDDING SINGER, and heck why the hell not...he will also be directing Adam Sandler in his next comedy flick entitled LITTLE NICKY. Brian Robbins, the man who directed this film and last year's teen success VARSITY BLUES (7/10), was once an actor himself. He is probably best remembered for his role as Eric on TV's "Head of the Class". That's right...he was the "cool" nerd. Stay tuned at the end of this movie for some pretty funny outtakes.
Review Date: April 6, 2000 Director: Brian Robbins Writer: Steven Brill Producers: Jeffrey Silver and Robert Newmyer Actors: David Arquette as Gordie Boggs Scott Caan as Sean Dawkins Oliver Platt as Jimmy King Genre: Comedy Year of Release: 2000 ------------------------------------ JoBlo's Movie Emporium http://www.joblo.com/ ------------------------------------ (c) 2000 Berge Garabedian
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