POSITIVES:
1) The performances are all superb; there's career best performances from pretty much everybody. In particular, Zac Efron is so emotional and empathetic, whilst Holt McCallany was absolutely terrifying and I felt on edge in literally every scene he was in 2) The wrestling scenes were really gritty, intense and gripping to watch. I also loved how the film used the graphics and camera style of the era in which it's set 3) The film could easily have been a boys only affair, and whilst the men are clearly the leads, I actually thought the two main female characters were actually two of the most engaging characters in the film. Credit to the actresses for that but also to the writers for really fleshing these women out
NEGATIVES:
1) As the title of this review suggests, I really did have an issue with the pacing. The first hour in particular really does drag and I feel could've easily trimmed itself down to under 2 hours and been much more manageable by doing so. I checked my watch at several points because I was wishing the film to speed up and keep me more engaged 2) I feel like the film could've done a better job of demonstrating when and how much time had passed. The film spans several years but it wasn't until about two thirds in that I even realised that. There's a scene near the end where Kevin takes control of the company and his Dad tells him he's "nearly 40", but I genuinely thought the characters were still supposed to be in their 20s because the film never demonstrated that significant time had passed and the characters had really aged.
1) The performances are all superb; there's career best performances from pretty much everybody. In particular, Zac Efron is so emotional and empathetic, whilst Holt McCallany was absolutely terrifying and I felt on edge in literally every scene he was in 2) The wrestling scenes were really gritty, intense and gripping to watch. I also loved how the film used the graphics and camera style of the era in which it's set 3) The film could easily have been a boys only affair, and whilst the men are clearly the leads, I actually thought the two main female characters were actually two of the most engaging characters in the film. Credit to the actresses for that but also to the writers for really fleshing these women out
NEGATIVES:
1) As the title of this review suggests, I really did have an issue with the pacing. The first hour in particular really does drag and I feel could've easily trimmed itself down to under 2 hours and been much more manageable by doing so. I checked my watch at several points because I was wishing the film to speed up and keep me more engaged 2) I feel like the film could've done a better job of demonstrating when and how much time had passed. The film spans several years but it wasn't until about two thirds in that I even realised that. There's a scene near the end where Kevin takes control of the company and his Dad tells him he's "nearly 40", but I genuinely thought the characters were still supposed to be in their 20s because the film never demonstrated that significant time had passed and the characters had really aged.