Mick Foley Blogs
The Falcon is Landing!
I am URGING you to find The Peanut Butter Falcon at a theater near you – and see it in the big screen while you have the chance! This movie is getting incredible reviews – 98% on Rotten Tomatoes and 97% from moviegoers and several film critics have listed it as one of the best films of the year! And Jake “The Snake” Roberts and I are in it! How many more reasons do you need?
OK, I’ll give you another reason! How about an incredible cast? Zack Gottsagen will steal your heart as Tyler, a young man with Down Syndrome who escapes the facility he is living in to pursue his dream of becoming a professional wrestler under the tutelage of his idol, the Salt Water Redneck, played by Thomas Haden Church. When I met Thomas on set, he said, “listen, I’ll be honest; I don’t know very much about wrestling, so any help you could give me would be appreciated.” So I sat down with the Academy Award nominated actor and re-wrote some of his dialogue in a way that I thought would be more befitting his character. Thomas is a great guy and seeing him receive critical acclaim for this role – and feeling like I may have had a tiny bit to do with it, is a great feeling.
When I arrived on set, Shia LaBeouf was just a couple days removed from having been arrested for an altercation in Savannah. But he was just a pleasure to work with. He was dedicated, hard-working, really good to all the extras, and the way he and Dakota Johnson bond with Zack is the real deal. Without that bond, without that chemistry, the movie just would not work. But it does work – and in a major way! I enjoyed spending time with Shia very much, and hope that his lunch-break talks with me and Jake about life and wrestling inspired him in some small way. Speaking of Jake, he is fantastic in his role. When I first met with directors Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz about five years ago, I had my doubts about the script. To be more precise, I had ONE doubt about the script. How in the world, I thought, will they ever convince an audience that someone out there is vile enough, and selfish enough to (spoiler alert!) double-cross a young man with Down Syndrome – choosing to protect his turf as a small-time backyard wrestling champ, instead of allowing Tyler to shine? I held onto those doubts until the filming of the scene began….at which point – even while cameras were rolling, I was thinking to myself, “he’s doing it!” Yes, Jake will make you believe that such a vile and selfish person exists… and you get to see him deliver his patented short-arm clothesline in the process!
A big shout-out to the Savannah area wrestling peeps who braved the heat to do take after wrestling take, to provide compelling and very realistic mat-action, and to the extras who made my character’s little backyard company come alive with excitement for Zack’s wrestling debut as “The Peanut Butter Falcon”. If I look legit excited on to be announcing Zack’s ring entrance on the big screen, it’s because I was – getting goosebumps on every take, as those extras chanting the Falcon’s name, who made our little “Dante’s Inferno” backyard wrestling set feel curiously close to a sold-out MSG crowd chanting my own name back in the day.
“The Peanut Butter Falcon” is a beautiful movie that will make you feel good about yourself. I hope you will take the opportunity to see it!