Director: Rob Taylor
Writer: Nicholas Costa
Cast: Emily Sweet, Darielle Mason, Nicholas Costa, Walter Koenig, Eddie Griffin, Paula Abdul
Running time: 1hr 36mins
Raging Midlife is a 20 years-in-the-making buddy chase movie which does a tonne of things right. For one, it’s a funny comedy movie! I laughed 11 times out loud with other assorted noises along the way. Watching it, you become very aware of how much care and consideration was put into every joke to make sure it hit, as well as how diligent the team were in making sure the narrative keeps progressing around, with and through the comedy spots (cheeky wrestling term for you there). On top of that, the performances are fantastic, the CGI is surprisingly effective, and it achieves the goal of properly exploring the darkness of the eponymous midlife theme.
The Raging part of the title comes from ‘Raging Abe Lincoln’, an 80’s pro wrestler played by someone I can only assume is a professional Macho Man Randy Savage impersonator.
Fun Fact (1): Randy Savage actually got his iconic ‘Ooooh yeah’ from 60’s and 70’s wrestling legend Pampero Firpo, who was a big star in Detroit alongside the original Sheik, who himself served in George Patton’s 3rd army in WW2! (Not the Iron Sheik, the original Sheik, it’s complicated.) Anyway, the fact that Savage’s catchphrase in itself was a nostalgic throwback for him, and a tribute to a wrestler he loved as a child, is a lovely coincidence for the film.
Two boys, Alex and Mark are young fans at a wrestling show, and end up receiving and then losing the coveted torn tank top of Raging Abe after quarrelling with arch-rival (and sister) Mindy. Although I get the feeling of intense respect for pro-wrestling, I think this is a story much more about nostalgia than pro-wrestling as a concept, even though it features so heavily as an ongoing plot thread. Indeed, it serves as a catalyst for an extreme sexual awakening as Mary Todd shares a moment with the boys, which leads to them sealing their friendship forever. The phrase ‘Mary Todd’ becomes a kind of shared catchphrase for the two, a sort of shibboleth-I Love You hybrid.
Now well into their adult life, Alex (Nic Costa, co-writer) and Mark (Matt Zak) proceed on a quest to regain the tank top. What then proceeds is basically everything you can think of, there are farce scenes, heist scenes, a car chase, dream sequences, ghosts, and a Technie in a man-bun (Rob Taylor, Director/co-writer). There are also nice cameos from the likes of Eddie Griffin, Paula Abdul and Walter Koenig. The second part of the film is extremely ambitious and experimental, and I’m finding it difficult to know exactly how to feel about this decision. It’s all preceded by a deliberate Intermission segment to signpost the dynamic reality-switching format, although there are also dream sequences in the first half.
As much as I’d love to say the whole thing came together seamlessly, I’m a bit torn about whether the cleverness is worth the percentage of the audience for whom it will cause a disconnection from the narrative. However, it doesn’t change the fact that, for me, the jokes hit, and the ending works. It’s the only thing stopping me from thinking this is a full on five-star film, but it’s only enough to knock me down to ‘this movie is really great’.
Probably my favourite scene in the whole film wasn’t ‘funny’ at all, though. It was a scene where Alex rides a children’s rollercoaster on his own with the most convincingly depressed faces I’ve ever seen. In terms of writing and acting, the way the film managed to pull together pathetic immature traits in a way which serves as criticism of the shallowness and immaturity of men whilst never making the main two characters become fully unlikable. Not for too long, anyway.
Compared to many other films in this sort of field, such as something like Pick of Destiny or Jay & Silent Bob, it has depths of emotional weight and acerbic criticism which locate it nicely in 2025 vibes. It would be super easy for something like this to feel very Revenge of the Nerds, but the attitude towards the characters veers it much closer to something like Shaun of The Dead. It feels like a throwback, but also extremely modern, quick, smart and dark. At times, it brought to mind the 2007 film Dangerous Parking in terms of the depths of its darkness combined with genuinely effective absurdist humour.
Of course, being overly attached to a nostalgic object isn’t an instant disqualifier from likability. I certainly can’t judge. A couple days ago I looked at my Yu–Gi-Oh cards, which for me date back all the way to 2001 when I was 8/9. To my absolute DISMAY, I found that somewhere along the journey of my life I’d lost one of the pieces of THE LEGENDARY EXODIA. The Left Leg Of The Forbidden One, to be precise. The monetary value of the full set isn’t particularly important, although a complete set is probably worth £150 in ‘played’ condition, which is definitely some money. Staring at my hobbled Egyptian God, I did feel that peculiar feeling of nostalgia. Specifically, that feeling of nostalgia wherein you feel as somewhere along the line you’ve betrayed yourself, not grown up enough, or maybe even grew up too much and became disillusioned.
It reminds me of a story Slavoj Žižek always used to tell, which apparently came from psychiatric circles as a sort of repeated theme in people grieving. As retold in his book In Defence of Lost Causes, it goes:
“There is a story told about a man whose wife was diagnosed with acute breast cancer and who died three months later; the husband survived her death unscathed, being able to talk coolly about his traumatic last moments with her – how? Was he a cold, distant, and unfeeling monster? Soon, his friends noticed that, while talking about his deceased wife, he always held a hamster in his hands, her pet object and now his fetish, the embodied disavowal of her death. No wonder that, when, a couple of months later, the hamster died, the man broke down and had to be hospitalised for a long period, treated for acute depression.”
These objects from our childhood hold our hopes and dreams and signify a more innocent time, sure. They also represent our failures. So, much of what appeals to us from the past is a sense of forlorn hope. Of course, deep down we all know that instead of appealing back to these lost hopes, we should form new hope.
That’s hard though… Especially when those childhood hopes from a more innocent time collide with the horrors of adult reality.
Fun Fact (2): The film heavily references the leaked Hulk Hogan Sex Tape. Did you know the Hulk Hogan Sex Tape Lawsuit was funded by Peter Thiel – in revenge for Gawker alleging that he was a homosexual in 2007? Forbes revealed in 2016 (four years after the lawsuit itself) that the billionaire had put together a fund, which eventually got into touch with Hogan to bankroll his entire case – something Thiel has since confirmed. I’m sure the money helped a lot, especially in discovery, but it was the Gawker employee A.J. Daulerio on video link who kind of dug the company’s grave in this jury trial.
When asked, “Is there any sex tape that wouldn’t be newsworthy?” Daulerio sarcastically responded: “If they were under four.”
$140 million judgement in the end. Anyway…
Honestly, I feel a definite gratitude towards the creators of Raging Midlife. I don’t know what higher compliment I could pay! I don’t want to mention spoilers, but it’s also a really nice dramatic performance by Darielle Mason, without whom the romantic elements of the second half may well have not worked. A special shout-out also for Matt Zak, whose manic energy peaks the masculine hysteria and jolts serious energy into the piece every time he turns up on screen. Well done also to Rob Taylor and Nic Costa for pulling together such a good script, and it looked and sounded bloody lovely too.