Lipstick & Dynamite, Piss & Vinegar: The First Ladies of Wrestling
Koch Lorber Films | Release Date: March 25, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
62
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
5
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
An entertaining look at a genuinely offbeat subject. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
Dynamite perfectly describes this riveting documentary. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerPaula Nechak
The film dwells more on the sensationalistic aspects than the sport itself but it's impossible to deny the tawdry entertainment value in this compelling film tabloid. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderHank Sartin
The women, many in their 70s and 80s, are still tough and proud--and nursing grudges that go back decades, something Leitman plays up by crosscutting between rivals' accounts. Read full review
70
VarietyDavid Rooney
Smart assembly of terrific archive footage is matched by spirited interviews with the tough old broads today. Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Leitman gets some wonderful tall tales from her subjects, who open up like they've been waiting for years for someone to come along and ask, and she complements it with punishing footage of their exploits. Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Generous, slyly tough-minded documentary. Read full review
70
SlateDavid Edelstein
What a gutsy, sad, seize-the-day, glorious life it was for the women warriors of Lipstick & Dynamite. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
What makes Lipstick & Dynamite its own animal is that, intentionally or not, the director has allowed something else into the mix, a glimpse of the unvarnished and the unsanitized. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterFrank Scheck
Highly entertaining and frequently fascinating. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The documentary visits elderly women who, then and now, can best be described as tough broads, and listens as they describe the early days of women's wrestling. What they say is not as revealing as how they say it. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Brad Wheeler
The best gal wrestlers had their signature moves: Ida May Martinez, with her flying drop kick; Ella Waldek, with the "short-arm scissor lift." Filmmaker Leitman, for all her good work, is in need of a close-out manoeuvre of her own. Read full review
60
The New York TimesStephen Holden
This visually stylish work, with its vintage glamour photos, film and television clips, and snippets from a 1951 B-movie, "Racket Girls," is more of a scrapbook than a coherent history of the sport during its rough-and-tumble infancy. Read full review
50
Village VoiceJessica Winter
Leitman's interviews are lax and inconclusive. Read full review
50
New York PostRussell Scott Smith
Offers plenty of fun, nostalgic footage of 1950s pro lady wrestlers kicking butt. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyChuck Wilson
Leitman has unearthed a terrific collection of vintage footage - yet, as if doubtful about holding our interest, she skims too quickly over the historical background. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Hartlaub
At its best, the movie is a collection of entertaining memories from a group of gutsy women. Read full review
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