You Cannot Kill David Arquette Review: Stepping Into the Ring of Addiction, Emotional Trauma and the Huge World of Wrestling

In the 2000s, Hollywood actor David Arquette dove into the WCW and would later win the World Heavyweight Championship in the process. What followed is the entire wrestling world turning on him and Hollywood no longer casting him. So, David returned to wrestling in 2018 to prove he cares about wrestling. All of this and more is documented in the stellar documentary, You Cannot Kill David Arquette.

Rounding out the film is David Arquette himself, Courteney Cox (his ex-wife), Ric Flair, the entire Arquette family, Eric Bishoff, Brian Knobbs, Chris Harris, Stacey Souther, Rick Kelly, Diamond Dallas Page, Jerry Kubik, among many others. Whether it’s his family showcasing their concerns for David, his friends telling him he’s crazy for going back to wrestling, wrestlers telling him he’s crazy to be coming back, doctors telling him he’s crazy to wrestle at his age or professionals telling the story of how David got into the WCW, we get a complete view of the world surrounding David, the world’s thoughts on David, and David according to David himself. While there is a clear slant here, I believe that getting so many people to talk about David Arquette and his wrestling is beneficial to offsetting that slant. Some people are angry that David won the Heavyweight Championship while others want the best for him. 

What I love about wrestling is the majesty, it’s like, uh, larger than life, it’s this, y’know, mythological world where it’s the good guys and these bad guys and they’re like goals.

David Arquette, You Cannot Kill David Arquette

You Cannot Kill David Arquette is something unlike I have seen before. A lot of that credit goes to cinematographers David Darg and Price James for shooting each wrestling match with handheld cameras that obscures some of the things that happen to David during these wrestling matches. 

However, my favorite part of the film is the direction it takes in telling David’s story. David Arquette is not a name that a kid today would know, but it was familiar to me. If you haven’t seen Eight Legged Freaks, you owe it to yourself to do so. David has endured much emotional and physical pain throughout his life, and the film rightly doesn’t shy away from it. A lot of people get a form of therapy through either exercise or some type of sport. As one of the doctors says in the film, pain is a trigger for emotional release, which isn’t always good. 

Enhancing the film is an excellent electronic soundtrack from Dimiter Yordanov, Matt Glass, and Will Patterson. The entire range of human emotion is on display throughout the documentary, and it’s nice to hear a score that reflects that. Sometimes, the score speaks when no one is. And yes, the song of the same name is also featured prominently in the film, if you’re wondering.

If you are at all interested in either David Arquette or wrestling as a whole, I recommend you check out You Cannot Kill David Arquette. 

You Cannot Kill David Arquette is now available on-demand ($5.99 to rent, $19.99 to buy).

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