351. Walk Like A Panther; movie review

WALK LIKE A PANTHER
Cert 12A
106 mins
BBFC advice: Contains moderate wrestling violence,  sex references, infrequent strong language

At 4pm every Saturday, my gran poured my grandad a cup of Oxo and he sat down to grapple and grunt on World Of Sport.
Grandad wasn't a fan of any other sport except wrestling.
I never saw him at Highfield Road, the home of my beloved football team nor did he exchange any views on cricket, rugby or The Olympics.
But he never missed Kent Walton commentating on Big Daddy, Mick McManus, Jackie Pallo, Giant Haystacks et al.
Sadly, grandad died nearly 30 years ago and many of his heroes are long since passed too.
Few of their sport's fans are still around to bathe in Walk Like A Panther's Full Monty-meets-WWF and that might be the reason that it made little impact at the box office.
Dan Cadan's movie stars Stephen Graham as a bar owner who has an unfulfilled dream to follow in the footsteps of his father (Dave Johns) as a professional wrestler.
It seems that wrestling has had its day until the death of one of its stars (Jason Flemyng) prompts a one-night only reunion of the old gang.
They are a tad past their best but are spurred on by their pal's memory and going ahead with the show to raise funds to buy the aforementioned pub.
I am afraid it is as banal as its sounds.
It isn't helped by the casting. Graham, for example, is a terrific actor but looks horribly out of place in a role as wide-eyed wannabe grappler.
Meanwhile, Stephen Tompkinson looks even more uncomfortable as the pantomime villain.
Walk Like A Panther has its heart in the right place - it wears its belief in community spirit on its sleeve - but it comes up short in terms of entertainment.
Indeed, its jokes were as lame as some of the acting during the 4pm wrestling on World Of Sport.
I reckon my grandad would have liked it but, sadly, neither he nor his generation are around any more and I fear, if Cadan's film had a time and a place, it isn't here and now.

Reasons to watch: If you were a fan of old-time wrestling
Reasons to avoid: The gags fall painfully flat

Laughs: A couple of chuckles
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 5/10

Director quote - Dan Cadan: "I came up with this concept about 7 years ago in a short version. I wanted it to doff its cap to wrestling of yesteryear but also update it, not necessarily the wrestling itself but those characters from that era to life now. "

The big question - If British wrestling was so popular why did it die out?

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