Early in the picture, an elderly citizen of the retirement home (Bruce Dern), says to the story's principal character - "Friends are the family you choose". The rest of the picture demonstrates how that all plays out, as Zak (Zack Gottsagen), a young man with Down Syndrome, becomes a runaway to pursue his dream of becoming a professional wrestler. It appears that the story takes place in the present day, but if so, the owner of Bubba's trading post/gas stop is sorely behind the times with regular unleaded priced at a dollar nineteen, and premium at a dollar seventy five. Probably not going to get rich quick that way,
Occasional flashbacks show how renegade Tyler (Shia LaBeouf) lost his older brother, as he undergoes a transition that allows him to become Zak's on the road caretaker and mentor, similar to the relationship he had with his older sibling. Tyler's personal hygiene and outgoing personality don't necessarily mesh when it comes to charming Zak's counselor Eleanor (Dakota Johnson), who makes it her mission to track down the missing youth. I didn't really see the chemistry there, but the story allows that to play out reasonably well in a fairly formulaic fashion.
Before it's all over, Zak gets to meet his wrestling hero, the Salt Water Redneck (Thomas Haden Church), who retired years earlier but maintains a local connection to the back yard wrestling circuit. Hearing about Zak's dream, 'Clint' has a change of heart and decides to point the young man in the direction of his life affirming mission. Entering the wrestling ring as the Peanut Butter Falcon, Zak turns the tables on the local villain Samson (Jake the Snake Roberts) with a self improvised Atomic Throw, thus fulfilling a personal goal to become the hero he always wanted to be. Former wrestler Mick Foley also makes an appearance in the film as the wrestling referee and owner of 'Jacob's Inferno', the local wrestling hot spot. While all this was going on, I had to wonder why the role of the Salt Water Redneck wasn't cast with another pro wrestler, but Church was so good in the role it didn't really matter.
Occasional flashbacks show how renegade Tyler (Shia LaBeouf) lost his older brother, as he undergoes a transition that allows him to become Zak's on the road caretaker and mentor, similar to the relationship he had with his older sibling. Tyler's personal hygiene and outgoing personality don't necessarily mesh when it comes to charming Zak's counselor Eleanor (Dakota Johnson), who makes it her mission to track down the missing youth. I didn't really see the chemistry there, but the story allows that to play out reasonably well in a fairly formulaic fashion.
Before it's all over, Zak gets to meet his wrestling hero, the Salt Water Redneck (Thomas Haden Church), who retired years earlier but maintains a local connection to the back yard wrestling circuit. Hearing about Zak's dream, 'Clint' has a change of heart and decides to point the young man in the direction of his life affirming mission. Entering the wrestling ring as the Peanut Butter Falcon, Zak turns the tables on the local villain Samson (Jake the Snake Roberts) with a self improvised Atomic Throw, thus fulfilling a personal goal to become the hero he always wanted to be. Former wrestler Mick Foley also makes an appearance in the film as the wrestling referee and owner of 'Jacob's Inferno', the local wrestling hot spot. While all this was going on, I had to wonder why the role of the Salt Water Redneck wasn't cast with another pro wrestler, but Church was so good in the role it didn't really matter.