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06/24/06
Lipstick & Dynamite: The First Ladies of Wrestling (2004)
63 %
Reviews Counted: 35 Fresh: 22 Rotten:13 Average Rating: 6.4/10
Consensus:
This documentary on the early days of women's wrestling features an array of colorful, compelling personalities.
Runtime: 83 mins
Synopsis: Before Hulk Hogan, The Rock, and the stars of Vince McMahon’s WWE took pro wrestling to new heights in American culture, pro wrestling was a small, relatively disorganized network of small time promoters, con-men, and over-the-top characters who brought their unique brand of showmanship... [More]
Genre: Sports/Recreation
Director: Ruth Leitman
Reviews
Top CriticClick to read the article
08/16/07
There is a great film to be made about the grappling glamazons who helped blaze a trail that lead to legitimizing women's athletics. This is not that movie, however.
09/30/05
Talk about being ahead of your time. Most of these women were living independently by the age of about 15, and took their place in a man's world through herculean effort.
07/29/05
Leitman gives these golden girls a voice -- that is the film's success. The failure is the narrative.
07/29/05
Leitman gives us a comprehensive array of pinup photos, news clips and wrestling footage from these women's younger years, and gives the women plenty of camera time to emerge as individuals and personalities.
06/17/05
The film dwells more upon the sensational aspects than the sport itself but it's impossible to deny the sheer tawdry entertainment value in this compelling film tabloid.
06/17/05
Don't expect the inside scoop so much as an unsatisfying slice of life.
06/11/05
What we get is essentially the press-book version of their careers, which is harrowing enough.
06/02/05
Top Critic
That octogenarians can be so full of antagonistic joie de vivre is one of the giddiest revelations of Leitman's film.
06/02/05
Too shapeless...but the topic is worthy, and the onslaught of trivia and quirky anecdotes hold interest for the film’s 75 minutes.
05/14/05
Doesn't succeed in its attempt to make a feminist statement, with too many of the wrestlers sounding like male athletes who talk in excruciating detail about high school football seasons that everyone else forgot.
05/13/05
Docu moves at a snappy pace, threading together recent interview material with a treasure trove of vintage footage.
05/13/05
Top Critic
Never more than a collection of small stories that do not amount to much or rise above the level of a small soap opera
04/28/05
A dynamic portrait of the quintessential tough broads who staked their claim to the spectator sport in the 1940s and '50s, becoming stars of the circuit.
04/18/05
Top Critic
Despite a couple key oversights, this film can sometimes be as immensely entertaining as the guilty pleasure it portrays.
04/11/05
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Around the Network
• Lipstick & Dynamite: The First Ladies of Wrestling at Rotten Tomatoes
• Lipstick & Dynamite: The First Ladies of Wrestling at IGN
• Lipstick & Dynamite: The First Ladies of Wrestling at AskMen
• Lipstick & Dynamite: The First Ladies of Wrestling at IGN
• Lipstick & Dynamite: The First Ladies of Wrestling at AskMen
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