Review: KNUCKLEHEAD is an Apt Name

   As I'm sure many of you may not know, I am a big fan of professional wrestling. Call it fake, scripted, or redneck, I enjoy it like I would any television show or movie, as a story driven product. Whether it be through interviews or backstage confrontations or in-ring action, I enjoy the story presented. Sure it can get stupid (if it didn't, WrestleCrap.com wouldn't exist), but when you look at stories such as Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels, its easy to understand why there are a lot of wrestling fans out there. What I am not a fan of is bad movies, and that includes WWE films. The latest film that got a "special limited release" to about ten theaters, is Knucklehead, starring former world champion, The Big Show.

   Knucklehead is about a thirty-five year old orphan named Walter Krunk (Big Show) who is turned into a mixed martial artist by struggling manager Eddie Sullivan (Mark Feuerstein). Krunk and Sullivan, along with sister-figure  Mary O'Connor (Melora Hardin) travel to New Orleans to compete in a tournament that will give them the money to save the orphanage where Krunk resides. However, they are constantly battled along the way by Memphis Earl (Dennis Farina) and his fighter Redrum (Lester Speight). And for all you WrestleCrap or TNA fans who will get the reference, that's "murder", spelled backward (and obviously The Shining fans will get part of the joke, but I digress).

   Perhaps it is because I went in with NEGATIVE expectations, but I came out of this film with a smile on my face. The acting is decent some of the time, which is more than you can say for a lot of films. Big Show has this energy about him that makes him fun to watch, as cheesy as he might be. The script is cliche, almost overly so, but the film really is harmless enough. There are fart and testicle jokes for sure, and they really do bring the film down, but there were a few jokes that got an audible laugh out of me (which is apparently more than one could say for the recently released Little Fockers). That being said, the entire thing feels very "by the book" and it seems like any knucklehead (pun intended) could write it. And there were THREE writers, which makes it all the sadder that this is the case.

   Of course, the entire film screams WWE promotion, and it is, but it is aimed at a family demographic, and unlike most of the straight to DVD kids films, at least this one has some star power, even if its marginal or of the sports entertainer variety. And as cliche as this film is, at least it acts like it has some common sense behind it. I won't spoil a few of these moments, but in the course of them occurring I thought to myself "are they really doing THIS?!" only to have them go the "normal, real life, common sense route" which is a bit refreshing. Then again, you also have underground Jewish fight clubs which are either so ridiculous its painful to watch, or so ridiculous its hilarious, depending on how you look at it.

   Will most people reading this blog enjoy this film? Probably not. Will your children? Oh absolutely, they will love this film to death I'm sure. Will your average wrestling fan enjoy it? I consider myself a wrestling fan and I got some enjoyment out of watching one of my favorite entertainers in his first starring role (you might recall he  also played a giant Santa in Jingle All the Way). There is not a whole lot to say about this film, so I do apologize for the brevity, except that if you are the demographic WWE was aiming for with this film, I would say give it a watch, you might get some entertainment out of it. Plus for Netflix subscribers, its on Instant Watch, so you don't even have to use one of your DVD rentals for it. That's not too bad if I do say so myself.

Directed by: Michael Watkins Written by: Bear Aderhold Thomas Sullivan Adam Rifkin Starring: Big Show Mark Feurerstein Melora Hardin Dennis Farina Studio: WWE Studios Distributor: Samuel-Goldwyn Running Time: 100 Minutes Rated PG-13

Below Average (+) Has a few laughs (+) Most kids will enjoy watching Big Show (+) WWE fans might enjoy it (-) Little talent in the film, and what talent there is is wasted (-) Very cliche, nothing stands out about it (-) Likability remains within target demographic (?) If this is for kids, why the heck is it PG-13?