The Backyard (2003)

I keep thinking I'm overrating this due to a general unfamiliarity with the subject matter, but this documentary is so comprehensive and compelling (without being condescending) that I can't help but be impressed. Director Paul Hough has unearthed some seriously warped characters; thankfully, he keeps them grounded in the reality of their lives and their surroundings so the whole thing doesn't turn into a cartoon or a "point-and-laugh-at-the-rednecks" kind of job. People who initially seem like freaks end up feeling like real, complex people (the brothers who devise ways to torture each other use their plotlines as a way to deal with an absentee father; the crazed masochist turns out to have had numerous liver operations as a child, which makes him like a Bob Flanagan in miniature; the 17-year-old calling himself a wrestling promoter shows himself to be serious-minded and possessing extraordinary showmen's acumen). Interesting to note that, in playing at a sport that flaunts its artificiality, the performers admit that the pain and fire is essentially not as bad as it looks -- even the guys in Arizona who pride themselves on their hardness and their authenticity in offering the bloody goods reveal that they cheat by "blading" themselves to make a better show. Troubling, tough to watch at times, but also quite impressive; wonder what Hough'll do next...

Grade: A-