''You Cannot Kill David Arquette'' is a 2020 American documentary film, directed by

David Darg David Darg is an American director and cinematographer. In 2011 he co-founded the media company RYOT with Bryn Mooser. He received critical praise for his documentary ''Body Team 12'' which garnered him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best ...

and Price James. It follows

David Arquette David Arquette (born September 8, 1971) is an American actor and former professional wrestler. He is best known for his role as Dewey Riley in the slasher film franchise ''Scream'', for which he won a Teen Choice Award and two Blockbuster En ...

attempting to return to wrestling after his acting career stalls. It was released on August 21, 2020, by Super LTD.

Synopsis

attempts a return to wrestling, which stalled his acting career.

Cast

Patricia Arquette Patricia Tiffany Arquette (born April 8, 1968) is an American actress. She made her feature film debut as Kristen Parker in '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors'' (1987). Her other notable films include '' True Romance'' (1993), ''Ed W ...

Rosanna Arquette Rosanna Lisa Arquette (; born August 10, 1959) is an American actress. She was nominated for an Emmy Award for her performance in the TV film ''The Executioner's Song'' (1982), and won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for th ...

* Richmond Arquette *

Courteney Cox Courteney Bass Cox (previously Courteney Cox Arquette; born June 15, 1964) is an American actress and filmmaker. She gained international recognition for her starring role as Monica Geller on the NBC sitcom ''Friends'', which aired from 1994 ...

* Ric Flair *

Mick Foley Michael Francis Foley (born June 7, 1965) is an American actor, author, retired professional wrestler, and color commentator. He is currently signed to WWE under the company's Legends program, acting as a company ambassador. Foley worked for m ...

Eric Bischoff Eric Aaron Bischoff (born May 27, 1955) is an American television producer, professional wrestling booker, and performer. He is best known for serving as Executive Producer and later Senior Vice President of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) an ...

Peter Avalon Peter Hernandez (born June 14, 1989), better known by the ring name "Pretty" Peter Avalon, is a Cuban-American professional wrestler signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is also known for his appearances in Championship Wrestling from Hollywo ...

Diamond Dallas Page Dallas Page (born Page Joseph Falkinburg Jr., April 5, 1956), better known by his ring name Diamond Dallas Page (often stylized as DDP), is an American actor and retired professional wrestler. In the course of his wrestling career Page has wre ...

Production

In December 2019, it was announced

and Price James had directed a documentary film following

, over the course of two years, with

, Richmond Arquette,

, and Ric Flair set to appear in the film.

Release

The film was scheduled to have its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 20, 2020. The festival was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. Shortly after, Super LTD acquired distribution rights to the film. It was released to drive-in theatres on August 21, 2020, and via digital platforms and on-demand on August 28.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

the film has an approval rating of . The site's critical consensus reads, "''You Cannot Kill David Arquette'' -- nor can you deny the sheer watchability of this unusual and surprisingly affecting documentary." Owen Gleiberman gave a positive review for ''Variety'' and complimented how the film handles the merger between

kayfabe In professional wrestling, kayfabe, as a noun, is the portrayal of staged events within the industry as "real" or "true", specifically the portrayal of competition, rivalries, and relationships between participants as being genuine and not staged ...

in professional wrestling and reality: "At the end of ''You Cannot Kill David Arquette'', we’re drawn into a wrestling narrative that the documentary wants you to believe, even as it stands on the outside looking in. Is Arquette a has-been actor trumping up his biggest failure so that he can exploit it? Or is he a

lionhearted "Lionhearted" is a song recorded by American electronic music producer Porter Robinson. It was released on June 7, 2014 as the third single from his debut studio album '' Worlds'' (2014). Robinson wrote, produced, and performed the track. The so ...

wrestler who finds triumph by going the distance? The weird thing is that there’s no difference." For ''Film Pulse'', Adam Patterson gave a generally positive review, but pondered if Arquette could be well received by the audience as an

underdog An underdog is a person or group in a competition, usually in sports and creative works, who is largely expected to lose. The party, team, or individual expected to win is called the favorite or top dog. In the case where an underdog wins, the ...

: "This ..may be a hard pill to swallow for some, considering he has had a seemingly successful career, lives in a beautiful home and has a family who cares for him deeply."

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 11454066 2020 films 2020 documentary films American sports documentary films Documentary films about sportspeople Documentary films about actors Films postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic Professional wrestling documentary films 2020s English-language films 2020s American films