'

American Wrestler: The Wizard

Play trailer

0:29

American Wrestler: The Wizard

PG-13

2016

1h 57m

Drama

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

Tomatometer

3 Reviews

90%

Popcornmeter

250+ Ratings

A teenage boy adjusting to life in a new town combats the disapproval and scorn of his uncle, his classmates and his neighbors when he joins his school's floundering wrestling team, only to become the squad's star member.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Rent Now

John DeFore

The Hollywood Reporter

Only a middling example of its genre ...

Dec 19, 2016

Full Review

Peter Debruge

Variety

"American Wrestler" is mostly tired old formula. Still, what the movie lacks in originality it makes up for in personality ...

Dec 17, 2016

Full Review

Michael Rechtshaffen

Los Angeles Times

It may be by-the-book, but "American Wrestler" is a story well worth telling.

Dec 15, 2016

Full Review

Read all reviews

Mario -

La clase de peliculones biográficos que inspiran.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/13/24

Full Review

Arthur H

Best wrestling movie since vision quest. Not a fan of the timeout call though in the movie. No such thing…

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

06/04/25

Full Review

Jerod S

Solid biopic of Ali Afshar, how we defected to American from Iran in the 80s to be not be killed in the war. Finding his way through adversity, he wrestled his way into the news and into the championships.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/03/23

Full Review

Audience Member

It was an inspiring story if you love an underdog story and the sport of Wrestling this film is a can't miss.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/13/23

Full Review

brian v

Like Karate Kid meets Vision Quest. Formulaic? Yes. Fun? Absolutely! I also personally connected a little more with the film I think because I grew up in a Northern California suburban neighborhood, played high school football, and was 1 in a tiny handful of Vietnamese kids in the whole area. My family also escaped the old country due to a war as well.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Best sport film ever!

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/15/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Alex Ranarivelo

Director

Jon Voight

Principal Skinner

William Fichtner

Coach Plyler

Lia Marie Johnson

Kristi Larsen

George Kosturos

Ali

Kevin G. Schmidt

Rowan Knox

American Wrestler: The Wizard: Fathom Events Trailer

0:29

View more videos

View more photos

Synopsis

A teenage boy adjusting to life in a new town combats the disapproval and scorn of his uncle, his classmates and his neighbors when he joins his school's floundering wrestling team, only to become the squad's star member.

Director: Alex Ranarivelo
Producer: Ali Afshar, Hadeel Reda
Screenwriter: Brian Rudnick
Production Co: ESX Entertainment
Rating: PG-13 (Thematic Material|Some Disturbing Images|Language|Violence)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): May 16, 2017
Runtime: 1h 57m

Most Popular at Home Now