Year: 2012
Director: Robert Greene
Country: U.S
Language: English
2012 seemed to be a great year for the ever rising genre of documentary film-making. We have had the empowering How to Survive A Plague, a film about the AIDS crisis. The thought provoking 5 Broken Cameras, the gutsy Iranian film This is Not A Film and the tear inducing Whores' Glory, a film about prostitution around the world. Another documentary worthy of being called "great" yet hasn't had wide distribution is a film called Fake it So Real. Like The Wrestler (2008), it is a film about wrestling that tugs at the heart.
Fake it So Real follows, a group of semi-pro wrestlers in Lincolnton, N.C. On Saturday nights as they rent a hall, set up chair & a wrestling ring, stage a show and then take it all down. They compete for their Millennium Wrestling Federation and every few weeks have a grand championship match. The wrestlers, about 14, all have various problems with jobs and relationships but yearn to be stars, and for one night a week they are exactly that.
Fake it so Real is essentially a film about dreams and ambition. While a lot of people say "I want to be __" and don't actually do anything about it, these wrestlers want to be professional wrestlers and aren't going to wait around for some big company to notice them. They actively go out and do what they want to do regardless of their circumstance in life. "I don't have the money" is not an excuse for them. Some of these people are very poor and/or have problems with their wives. This film encourages people to seek out their dream regardless of how hard it may be to achieve it.
There is a somewhat great nobility in which these people strive for fame and success. Each of them have obstacles to overcome, some more than others. One of the wrestlers was bullied his whole life for having a big butt, now he uses that big butt to his advantage, by winning over the crowd with his "kiss my butt" gimmick. This film reminds me of The Wrestler in many ways, both Mickey Rourke's character and the wrestlers in this documentary use their wrestling personas to compensate for what they lack in real life. All characters seem to have an un-relenting optimism whereas many people would just quit and give up.
In conclusion, Fake it So Real is an insightful heartfelt documentary that will incite you to follow your dreams more than any Disney cartoon or Hollywood film ever could. It is well made and full of in-depth character studies. It is a film that makes you really appreciate what indie wrestling and what they put their bodies through. After all, is "fake" wrestling really "fake"? Praise it! 5/5
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