You Cannot Kill David Arquette: Review by @Kush_Hayes
If youre a fan of Professional Wrestling you know that once upon a short time ago, promoting the 2000 film Ready to Rumble, actor David Arquette became the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. And in a world where promotion and spectacle are cornerstones for its existence, pro wrestling fans lost their goddamn minds at an unhealthy level where its still a footnote in the history of the business. The hate for David Arquette was neck and neck only to a ten year old boy named Jake Lloyd who had played Anakin Skywalker the year before in The Phantom Menace, the first of the Star Wars prequel trilogy.
Other things “that killed the business” would come and go and overall be forgotten, but not one. Not this one event, that on paper lasted only 12 days. As this movie will feature, fans still consider one of the worst periods of time in history. Its a strange level of toxic fandom that doesnt get explored. And Toxic is a fair assessment as this weight stuck around just torturing this man in the back of his mind for the 18 years that it led to begin production of this film.
When we do meet the David Arquette this film presents, hes a year fresh off a heart attack. Hes out of shape. Hes smoking. Drinking. Most likely using other substances that as the producer of this film he didnt show. After a night of partying hes been admitted to the hospital where they have to give him multiple doses of Ketamine to calm him down. This man is an overall wreck and for some reason he wants to take a serious run at pro wrestling? He definitely needs a healthier lifestyle before he can even consider doing something as physical as pro wrestling.
We get several segments of him trying to get experience from anyone who will entertain him that feel like theyre more out of a reality show that never came to be than they do a documentary chronicling the life of a man having a midlife crisis. Of these I found the most interesting segment to be the lucha panhandlers in Mexico. I would definitely like a 45 min documentary just on that subculture and exploring the history of that. We also get a segment of BackYard Wrestling which is already extremely dangerous, especially for untrained 46 year old people. We should feel comforted to know there is some control within that chaos of the sport whereas we’ll see later in the film how bad things can get without death being the finality.
I think David Arquette is not only a good dude, but a true fan of Pro Wrestling. I think hes only had respect for the business. And I think he got a bad break for an opportunity nobody would have said “no” too, even for 12 days. I think it stinks that people find it trendy to shit on something so benign. I hope for him and his family he can live away from social media and incorporate an indefinite series of therapy sessions into his life and focus on absolutely more important things than the past.
If this couldnt be a reality show, then it feels like a wasted opportunity of a platform to discuss toxic fandom, depression, substance abuse, mid life crisis, and the psychology of why anyone would want to be a part of a community that doesnt want them to be a part of them. It fails to show the progress of how Arquette got his life on track through proper diet, exercise and discipline and training, even if it was for a small sliver of time. We ultimately see him nearly beat to a pulp, and then time just passes, and hes gotten rid of the gut as well as improved his technique in the ring. However we never see him following up with his doctor showing his improvements in health, possibly showing that a 46 year old man can indeed have a serious run on the independent scene. We also never get a sense of what the plan for Arquettes career is, nor do we get a final goal in mind. The film gives us a false build up to I guess what the directors intended to be their idea of a Main Event, but it does nothing to add to the film.
Two out of Five Blueberries
You Cannot Kill David Arquette is currently in select theaters as well as available for purchase and rental on Most VOD Platforms.
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