Amanda Crew is miscast as Sheena DeWilde, a local-gal-done-good wrestler and reality-television star whose temper has caused a downturn in her career.
Professional wrestling is fake, and so is the ring-set rom-com Chokeslam, a film from Calgary's Robert Cuffley as lame as its name. Silicon Valley's Amanda Crew is miscast as Sheena DeWilde, a local-gal-done-good wrestler and reality-television star whose temper has caused a downturn in her career. With her beanpole physique and lesser-than-life personality, the character fails to convince. In the other corner is Chris Marquette, a poor man's John Cusack, who plays a mild-mannered, small-town schmo left heartbroken and publicly humiliated by Sheena 10 years earlier in high school. When a reunion brings the mismatched former couple back in contact, an unlikely narrative involving a second-chance romance and a ridiculous wrestling match ensues. Secondary characters, including a protective mother and a dopey former school-boy stud, breathe life (and laughs) into this thing, but a comedy that aims for quirky barely rates as cornball. During the film's ending chaos, a confused ring announcer wonders if anyone even cares who won the match. Many will not.
Brad Wheeler