Review: You Cannot Kill David Arquette
Digital Download: You Cannot Kill David Arquette (2020)
My son was, as are most kids, obsessed with wrestling as a small child. It’s one of those things he ‘grew out’ of, and by the age of 11 The Undertaker, Triple H and The Hardy boys were replaced with Manchester Utd.
I missed it though, missed the soap opera and spectacle of weekly bash ups.
We watch a lot of films and documentaries here at 60MW and how about this for synchronicity? We have just rewatched all 4 Scream films (Dave is friends with Gary J Tunnicliffe who did the make-up effects on Scream 4 and he kindly sent Dave a screen used ghost face mask signed my Neve Campbell & Gary, as well as a Scream 4 poster signed by cast & crew, including the late great Wes Craven).
Now I admit I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for the Arquette family, three beautiful sisters, all amazing actresses, one who has one of the best songs ever written about her (Rosanna) and the other…. Patricia… SO MANY films… oh boy. Let’s just leave True Romance right here. Then there was Alexis who was originally Robert, who underwent gender reassignment in adulthood, and David. A hugely talented family.
David is probably best known for his part in the Scream movies, Dewey the daft cop. And there dear reader is one of the best examples of type-casting known to man.
I wasn’t aware of David’s wrestling or that fact that he… WON the world title WCW in 2000. HUH? Okay just to clear this up, wrestling is part show, part pain. You can say it’s not real but…. despite its choreography those chairs coming at your head MUST HURT. So Arquette was seen as comic relief, and according to You Cannot Kill David Arquette, the fans loathed him.
So this docu film is about David’s quest for recognition, his attempt at being a real wrestler and I dunno, maybe find some peace?
What you get is a whole lot more.
Here is a fella who has a reputation of being… ummm… weird. Quirky. But I’ve always got this overwhelming sense of someone who is not only self-aware, but cuddly and sweet and nice, and IN on the joke. And the joke is…him.
But here’s the thing, David Arquette can really act, and it’s likely that being the backbone of the Scream franchise coupled with being the comedy relief for TWO WEEKS 20 years ago in WCW literally pushed him out of the spotlight and stopped him from getting the roles he deserves. The proof of this is in this documentary.
I don’t really like giving spoilers but this is a fly on the wall look at not only David training and meeting people, but also a peek at his mental battles, and sobriety.
This really is a masterful piece of filmmaking (and hey, I know what I’m talking about here) it really does take you on a journey and you know Arquette is ONLY acting when he needs to in the ring.
The director David Darg has accomplished something truly amazing, he has filmed a man, a famous man, getting seven shades of shit beaten out of him in some ex-con’s back yard because he wants to ‘prove’ himself, and while you gaze through your fingers at this real horror, what you see is the reality of a man whose soul is laid bare. Whose vulnerability is on show, its raw, and you know what? He keeps going.
He does all this with grace, with warmth, with truth.
This is kind of like a real life Rocky film, he’s down, he’s hurt, people are laughing at him….can he rise up and prove his denouncers wrong?
Well there’s only one way to find out, watch this film.
Hey, we’re all having a shit time of it. But this film had me smiling, cringing, closing my eyes… groaning, but it’s got to be one of the most positive, life affirming and beautiful documentaries I’ve seen. Now that is high praise indeed.
Kudos to the foilmmakers but mostly for Arquette himself. He HONOURS the art of wrestling. This guy, he’s a wrestler.
I think I fell a little in love with him, sitting in his backyard on his massive PeeWee Herman-type chair, swinging his legs and saying he hadn’t grown up. Mmm nope David, you are ALL man and a sweetheart.
Unmissable.
Due to the recently announced COVID-19 restrictions in England, You Cannot Kill David Arquette will no longer have a cinema release.
The film will be out on Digital Download on 23rd November.
Review by Tina from a streaming link kindly supplied by Witchfinder PR.