You Cannot Kill David Arquette (2020)

 Many moons ago when all of my children were small and we lived in a shitty trailer in a sketchy trailer park, we had a magical VCR. The reason I say that is it would play the tape, rewind the tape and then start playing it again.

At The Waltz household we had a few tapes that we just let run for days, weeks at a time. Because of that there are movies that my whole family can quote word for word.

One of those is Ready To Rumble. I consider it one of the better wrestling movies in existence. David Arquette and Scott Caan are perfect together and it's my favorite Oliver Platt role. 

This leads us to a new documentary concerning David Arquette. In 2000 in conjunction with the film he won the WCW title belt and wrestling fans loathe him to this day for it.

Before we dig into the movie I want to voice my opinion that the only person who should fell responsible for this is Eric Bischoff. It was his idea and he presented it to a 26 year old wrestling fan who has a manic personality to begin with.

David Arquette loves wrestling. He shouldn't feel bad at all about some shitty promoter trying to make a buck. And since Arquette gave every penny he made from WCW to the families of Owen Hart, Brian Pillman, who both passed away, Hart from an in ring accident and Pillman from an undiagnosed heart condition. He also gave a portion to Darren Drozdov who after a ring accident became a quadriplegic. Arquette is blameless in the guilt he feels for doing something he never wanted to do.

Now, twenty years later he is ready to try and make a comeback as an actual wrestler. It is interesting watch. He thinks he can slide in again with nothing more than his name and the 12 days he held the title belt and he is in for a rude awakening. 

He gets beat down in a backyard match, but he is determined to continue. He is also smart enough to realize he needs training. From the streets Mexico learning the ways of the Lucha to a professional wrestling training camp in Virginia. He sheds 50 pounds in the process and becomes a passable wrestler.

Then his deathmatch with Nick Gage ends in a nicked artery and there is a moment of sheer panic in David's eyes when he thinks he's going to lose the match. Gage sees it and lets him out of a hold. Arquette leaves the ring, panics and then goes back so Gage can pin him to end the match and go to the hospital.

This is a warts and all documentary. It shows Arquette at his most vulnerable and doesn't apologize for anything. It's nice to see his sisters, his wife and children. Even Courtney Cox makes an appearance. Ric Flair's cameo at the beginning is very funny.

The slow acceptance by wrestlers as the movie progresses is very nice to see. I think they saw someone who was trying to make amends for something he felt was wrong. 

It gives us a facet to the world of professional wrestling that you rarely see anywhere.

Ready To Rumble is my favorite David Arquette movie.

You Cannot Kill David Arquette is second.