GLOW: The Story of The Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (2012)

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Good concept, poorly executed.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Like many, I watched this documentary on Netflix after I saw the Netflix drama series with Alison Brie about GLOW. I was in my mid-20s when GLOW was on TV in the mid-80's, so I knew something about it. So I was a bit disappointed in this documentary. It was really hard to get a sense of what the series was like during that time. The documentary focused on a few of the wrestlers (such as Mountain Fiji and Matilda the Hun), but I remember a few other notable wrestlers in that series (including the no-longer-politically correct heel from the Middle East called Palestina), and they weren't talked about at all.The problem with this movie is that without David McLane (the creator of GLOW) or Matt Cimber (the director of most GLOW episodes) participating in this documentary (they both apparently refused when asked to participate) there's just a lot that isn't there. It kind of reminded me of the documentary "Disgraced" about the murder of a Baylor college basketball player by one of his teammates, when they got refusals to participate from Baylor University, most of the teammates, and most of the attorneys who worked the case. That left much missing from the film, as is the case here. I understand that you work with what you can work with, but there is always the risk that the result is not as good as it could have been. And that is what the case is here.

"GLOW: The Story of The Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling" chronicles the rise and fall of the first ever all-female wrestling show through the stories of those who lived it.With Matt Cimber on board, and Jackie Stallone of all people out front, this looks like a lot of fun. Why did I not see this in the 1980s? Did my local station not carry it? This takes the cheese of the WWF and kicks it up a notch. And, in a small way, is sort of prescient about women's wrestling.I do wish Cimber would have agreed to being interviewed. Between this, his films, and his relationships, he is one of the more interesting people in Hollywood and is very much unknown to the general public. We really need to get him on the record more.

I quite enjoyed the new Netflix series "GLOW," so I was curious to watch this documentary about the real Gorgeous Ladies of Wresting. This documentary is apparently what inspired the excellent Netflix series. Back in the 80s, I was a regular WWF watcher, especially when they partnered with MTV for their Rock and Wresting events, but I wasn't a regular viewer of GLOW, although it was on my radar. Despite being unfamiliar with the wrestlers or any of their real-life backstories, I found this film highly entertaining and heartwarming. The women worked really hard, were very proud of what they'd done, and formed some lifelong bonds. From the women they interviewed, it sounds like most of them did not continuing wrestling, although I did learn that WWF wrestler Ivory came out of GLOW. Overall, this documentary is nothing deep, but it does tell a touching story of a lot of women carving a space out for themselves in the world (a story with lots of rasslin', outrageous costumes, goofy rapping, and fond reminiscing).

In the 1980s, Saturday morning TV programming was riddled with insanity. There was ALF TALES. LAZER TAG ACADEMY. And also something called IT'S PUNKY BREWSTER, which was not PUNKY BREWSTER, but an animated version of PUNKY BREWSTER starring the voice of Punky Brewster. That show ran for two seasons.GLOW: GORGEOUS LADIES OF WRESTLING was the long-running, live-action television program that featured chainsaw attacks, Borscht Belt comedy, and a wrestler named Vixxxen. It was kind of like WWF, but with a cast of women and camcorder production values. In other words, GLOW was way more entertaining and hilarious than anything else on Saturday morning TV, including RUDE DOG AND THE DWEEBS. Glitter! Spandex! Jackie Stallone! Completely over-the-top and possibly conceptualized by an alzheimer's patient, the show was everything a ten-year-old could ask for on Saturday morning. It's also everything a mid-thirties-year-old could ask for on any day of the week. Trust me.Now, over twenty years after the cancellation of GLOW, the filmmakers behind ROCK-AFIRE EXPLOSION have given us GLOW: THE STORY OF THE GORGEOUS LADIES OF WRESTLING. It's exactly what you'd hope to hear about while watching a documentary on GLOW. The faux-glamor. The dirt. The bone-popping-out-of-someone's-arm. But then, about halfway through, it's understood that the wrestler once known as Mount Fiji is a real, actual person. Her name is Emily Dole. Because of her time with GLOW, Dole is bedridden.The lives of the GLOW ladies aren't mired down in crack addiction, suicide, or other kinds of horribleness. Sadness is present, as it is with anyone who has blood pumping through their veins. But this is sadness as a means of personal growth. And seeing that unfold before our eyes -- that feels good. As much as I laughed at the ridiculous vintage GLOW footage that was thrown at my face every few minutes, I was surprised by how the real-life story behind GLOW made me feel. That dichotomy between the ironic and the sincere doesn't always work in 'talking heads' documentaries -- forced intentions are obvious from a mile away. Not here, though. This is a genuinely entertaining documentary that plays no tricks and keeps things sincere. And since this isn't a doc about Investment Bankers, but about THE GORGEOUS LADIES OF WRESTLING!!!!, I fully guarantee your enjoyment.Joseph A. Ziemba