Walk Like A Panther was originally supposed to be screened as a TV series. It was piloted for British television in 2011, with Kasabian lead singer Tom Meighan playing a bit part role but was eventually upgraded into a big screen production. Cadan has worked on a string of notorious Guy Ritchie movie projects and co-wrote Madonna’s Filth & Wisdom.
This very British comedy sees a group of hilarious 1980s wrestlers dust the cobwebs off their lycra to put on a wrestling show like never before in order to save their local pub which finds itself in a vulnerable financial position. Stephen Graham is cast as Mark Bolton, the landlord of the troubled Half Nelson public house in a working-class part of West Yorkshire. His father and friends used to be part of a wrestling group, the Panthers and after watching a video of the Panthers’ old moves, Mark hatches a plan with his father to save the pub by hosting a one-off night of wrestling with the Panthers.
It’s a largely predictable plot, which means it’s not likely to be a film that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Nevertheless, if you’re looking for something rib-tickling easy to watch for a Sunday afternoon, this ticks all the right boxes. If you’re familiar with British actors and actresses, there’ll be plenty of on-screen faces you’ll recognise. Sue Johnston of The Royle Family fame features heavily, along with Stephen Tompkinson (DCI Banks and Wild at Heart) and Jill Halfpenny (Eastenders, Waterloo Road).
The film features a heart-warming relationship between Mark Bolton, the pub’s owner, who feels somewhat inferior to his father and his father’s mates for never achieving his dream of being a wrestler like them. But the return of the Panthers show for one time only gives him his very own chance to shine. Father, Trevor ‘Bulldog’ Bolton is played by comedian Dave Johns (I, Daniel Blake) and both Johns and Stephen Graham perfectly pull off their gritty father-son camaraderie. There are punchlines aplenty, which makes you feel like you’re watching a feature-length version of Peter Kay’s Phoenix Nights, which is also said to be coming back with a third season written and ready for filming.
Admittedly, Walk Like A Panther is not a movie that takes a huge element of risks, but it has an endearing charm based largely around the way British communities used to be. It is however a sad indictment that so many of these communities today have fallen on hard times and experienced some form of financial hardship. If you fancy yourself as a bit of a connoisseur when it comes to films, you’ll probably find yourself walking out halfway through. But if you are prepared to take it as you find it you will learn to love its corny personality and overstated moves. The film was released at the UK box office on 9th March, with a string of former and present-day Manchester United footballers present at the film’s premiere in Manchester city centre. Defender, Chris Smalling and former midfielder, Paul Scholes attended the early screening at The Printworks cinema, where the pair posed for photos with a string of cast members.
Photo Credit: Three-Quarter Nelson by Chris Hunkeler / CC BY-SA 2.0
