Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Expected more

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

I saw this documentary for the first time a few weeks ago when I learned that Bret Hart was coming back to work for the WWE (then WWF). This documentary was outstanding. Never has a famous person come across as so real and so vulnerable. Who can blame Bret for jumping to WCW? He had a family to worry about it and like any good man he did what he thought was best for his family. He did not want to leave Vince high-and-dry, but he was caught between a rock and a hard place. I have always been a pro wrestling fan, but I never realized how hard life is for these performers. The amount of politics that go on behind the scenes really is unbelievable. At the end of the day, Bret Hart faced a timeless moral dilemma: does he stick by the company that created him despite his moral objections to the direction that the company is taking, or does he turn his back on them and follow his heart, even if it means selling out and betraying friends? It is a decision that we all must make in one form or another, and it is this that makes Wrestling with Shadows not a documentary about pro wrestling, but instead a documentary about humanity. 11 out of 10 stars.

Although "Wrestling with Shadows" began as documentary about the life of World Wrestling Federation (now World Wrestling Entertainment) wrestler in the mid-1990s, it ended a film about so much more. The timing of the film was odd yet in hindsight historically impeccable - in 1997, the WWF was at a low popularity-wise and losing money and fans to Ted Turner's competing World Championship Wrestling promotion. With Bret Hart being encouraged by Vince McMahon to leave the WWF for the better of both Hart and the WWF, the documentary initially becomes the story about a man in transition.After the Montreal incident, the documentary switches gears to show Bret Hart as a man in limbo - unsure of how to react to the worst exit he could have possibly made from the WWF and hitting a wall both personally and professionally. Before and after this point in the film, the whole tone of the piece is decidedly somber, showing the gritty inner workings of the eternally running machine of a professional wrestling promotion and the sacrifice a pro wrestler on the road must make for himself and his family. The movie's legacy remains the statement it makes not about Hart himself, but about the rise of the World Wrestling Federation after Hart's departure.Though Hart's departure was not completely responsible for the WWF's resurgence in popularity in the late 1990s, it did set in motion a chain reaction of events that spurred it. Almost prophetically, little hints of the WWF's rise are interspersed throughout the film. We see Steve Austin, Vince Russo, Shawn Michaels and Vince McMahon, all key players in taking the WWF to new heights in popularity after Hart left. At the end of the film, we get the feeling that the events transpired had set into motion something new. As is turns out, those things didn't just happen to Bret Hart, they happened to the entire professional wrestling world.

"Wrestling with Shadows" started out as a documentary on Bret Hart, one of the top wrestlers of all time. What it ended up being was the behind the story of one of the most historical nights in pro wrestling. If you are a new fan, you have to see this movie. It outlines the exact moment that wrestling changed into what it is today. The events at the end of the movie are still being felt today in the wrestling ring. Want to know where Vince McMahon got his "evil" character- he got it here. How about the WWE Attitude- it's talked about here. Simply put, the best documentary on the sport.

This is a documentary but if Hollywood bought this story and made it into a movie they don't have to change a single thing. It is about Bret Hart a man that loved the WWF more then anything . He gave his heart and soul to the WWF for over 14 years. But in 1997 Vince just didn't have the money to keep him in the WWF. So he told Bret that he should jump ship to the WCW ( World Championship Wrestling) and he wanted to get out of there 20 year contract. Bret told Vince if he had to he will join the WCW but his heart is in the WWF. But when he singed with the WCW Bret was the WWF world champion. And he didn't want to lose the title in his home Country Canada. So he asked Vince if he can make his match with Shawn Michaels a double draw. And Vince said that is fine with him. But while Bret was wrestling Shawn for the WWF world title Vince thought that Bret would go to Nitro the next night and trash the WWF much like former WWF women's champion Medusa did back in 1995. And if Bret would do that on WCW TV that would end the WWF once in for all since WCW was killing WWF over the Monday night ratings. So what Vince did was when Shawn was doing the sharpshooter ( what Bret thought was that he will turn around and do the sharpshooter to Shawn and then Triple H and Rick Rude will run down to the ring and double team on Bret and make Bret win by DQ) to Bret, Vince called for the bell and screwed Bret Hart. This really made Bret mad since Vince promised Bret that he did not have to drop the title that night. This movie is a most see for all wrestling fans. But if you hate wrestling it is also a great drama. The ending is great and it really takes a good look behind the scene in the wrestling world. 8 out of ten stars . This is the 2nd best documentary I ever saw. Best is Bowling for Co.