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Movie Review: QUEEN OF THE RING (2024)
Son of Rocky director finds a fighter of his own
Emily Bett Rickards and Josh Lucas put a feminist spin on an old school Hollywood biopic.
QUEEN OF THE RING (2024) Ash Avildsen. Writers: Ash Avildsen working from Jeff Leen’s The Queen of the Ring: Sex, Muscles, Diamonds, and the Making of an American Legend / Photographer: Andrew Strahorn (2.35:1) / Designer: Molly Coffee / Editor: Craig Hayes / Music: Aaron Gilhuis / Cast: Emily Bett Rickards, Josh Lucas, Tyler Posey, Walton Goggins, Francesca Eastwood, Marie Avgeropoulos, Kailey Farmer, Cara Buono, and Martin Kove / Distributor: Sumerian / Rated: PG-13 / Length: 130 min.
Let's harken back to the days of yore, glory days when cocaine was an active ingredient in Coca-Cola, pretty girls didn’t have muscles, and the outcome of a wrestling match wasn’t foreordained. Mildred Burke (Emily Bett Rickards) embraces both her femininity and strength with equal fervor, so the thought of women not being allowed to enter the ring — let alone fight a male opponent — turns the fire in her belly white hot. (At the time, women were banned from competing.)
Mildred falls in love twice that first night at the matches: first with professional wrestler Billy Wolfe (Josh Lucas), and second with the sport itself. At first, the two loves seem destined to intertwine: while twice her age, Billy is the only man ever to believe in her dreams. (Or so she thinks.) To the daughter of a single mom who ran a greasy spoon in Louisville, Kentucky, the barrel-chested brawler (and the first man she ever saw rig a fight) symbolizes a new life wherein she will go on to rake in mounds of fabulous moolah as America’s first female wrestler.
Director and co-writer Ash Avildsen, son of Rocky and The Karate Kid director John G. Avildsen, tries hard to give his Rockette a life of its own. I was unable to track down the film’s budget, but I'm guessing it’s a pittance compared to its big studio counterparts — and for that, Avildsen deserves to be applauded. The cinematography and art direction suggest lavish expense; it’s the dialogue that needed some additional investment. Within three sentences of meeting designated loser Mae Young (Francesca Eastwood), Billy bluntly brings the audience up to speed with, “Are you a lesbian?” And fans of expository conversation are bound to get a chuckle out of Billy asking, “Are you Jack Pfefer, the Mid-Atlantic tycoon?” As opposed to Jack Pfefer, the guy who makes balloon animals at kid’s birthday parties?
It’s Rikards' show. Not only does she look like Kate Beckinsale’s kid sister, she has the talent and physical stamina that the role demands and the star power to wow an audience. I took more from Avildsen’s commitment to his subject than I would from watching 10 big-budget celebrity biopics combined. 2024. ***
Here's something you might be interested in.
Movie Review: QUEEN OF THE RING (2024)
Son of Rocky director finds a fighter of his own
Movie Review: QUEEN OF THE RING (2024)
Son of Rocky director finds a fighter of his own
Emily Bett Rickards and Josh Lucas put a feminist spin on an old school Hollywood biopic.
QUEEN OF THE RING (2024) Ash Avildsen. Writers: Ash Avildsen working from Jeff Leen’s The Queen of the Ring: Sex, Muscles, Diamonds, and the Making of an American Legend / Photographer: Andrew Strahorn (2.35:1) / Designer: Molly Coffee / Editor: Craig Hayes / Music: Aaron Gilhuis / Cast: Emily Bett Rickards, Josh Lucas, Tyler Posey, Walton Goggins, Francesca Eastwood, Marie Avgeropoulos, Kailey Farmer, Cara Buono, and Martin Kove / Distributor: Sumerian / Rated: PG-13 / Length: 130 min.
Let's harken back to the days of yore, glory days when cocaine was an active ingredient in Coca-Cola, pretty girls didn’t have muscles, and the outcome of a wrestling match wasn’t foreordained. Mildred Burke (Emily Bett Rickards) embraces both her femininity and strength with equal fervor, so the thought of women not being allowed to enter the ring — let alone fight a male opponent — turns the fire in her belly white hot. (At the time, women were banned from competing.)
Mildred falls in love twice that first night at the matches: first with professional wrestler Billy Wolfe (Josh Lucas), and second with the sport itself. At first, the two loves seem destined to intertwine: while twice her age, Billy is the only man ever to believe in her dreams. (Or so she thinks.) To the daughter of a single mom who ran a greasy spoon in Louisville, Kentucky, the barrel-chested brawler (and the first man she ever saw rig a fight) symbolizes a new life wherein she will go on to rake in mounds of fabulous moolah as America’s first female wrestler.
Director and co-writer Ash Avildsen, son of Rocky and The Karate Kid director John G. Avildsen, tries hard to give his Rockette a life of its own. I was unable to track down the film’s budget, but I'm guessing it’s a pittance compared to its big studio counterparts — and for that, Avildsen deserves to be applauded. The cinematography and art direction suggest lavish expense; it’s the dialogue that needed some additional investment. Within three sentences of meeting designated loser Mae Young (Francesca Eastwood), Billy bluntly brings the audience up to speed with, “Are you a lesbian?” And fans of expository conversation are bound to get a chuckle out of Billy asking, “Are you Jack Pfefer, the Mid-Atlantic tycoon?” As opposed to Jack Pfefer, the guy who makes balloon animals at kid’s birthday parties?
It’s Rikards' show. Not only does she look like Kate Beckinsale’s kid sister, she has the talent and physical stamina that the role demands and the star power to wow an audience. I took more from Avildsen’s commitment to his subject than I would from watching 10 big-budget celebrity biopics combined. 2024. ***