'Cassandro' review: Gael García Bernal is a main eventer in wrestling biopic

Gael García Bernal is a showstopper as a professional wrestling exótico in "Cassandro," a biopic that struggles to support the dexterity and weight of its lead performance.

Director and co-writer Roger Ross Williams ("Life, Animated") bases his film on the real life story of Saúl Armendáriz, a gay wrestler who defied the odds and climbed the ranks of Mexico's lucha libre wrestling community in the 1980s. But between Saúl's internal and external struggles, Williams' script (co-written with David Teague) can't always decide which conflict to center on, and "Cassandro" comes off like a heavyweight title bout with a ho-hum finish.

Bernal keeps your attention for the entire match though. As Saúl he glows, lit from inside with a radiance that beams through his character. He begins wrestling underneath a mask in underground fights inside a body shop in Juárez, where he always loses to his bigger, more physically imposing opponents. But he wants to flip the script: He longs to wrestle as an exótico, an over-the-top drag performer typically set up to lose, and in his contests, he wants to win.

He begins training with in-ring veteran Sabrina (Roberta Colindrez) and he takes up a character inspired by a telenovela star named Kassandra, his outfits fashioned from his mother's style and flare for makeup. Perla De La Rosa plays Saúl's mom, who raised him as a single mother after his father split, and the pair is thick as thieves, her riding on the back of his motorcycle while they both take long drags off cigarettes.

Saúl is no angel, and Williams presents him flaws and all, as he parties hard well into the night on the night before a big match. His love affair with fellow wrestler Gerardo (Raúl Castillo), who grapples as El Comandante, is fraught because Gerardo is married with children and keeps their relationship tucked away in the closet. Bernal registers the pain from that denial, as well as Saúl's desire for stability and love.

But as he moves up wrestling's ladder, fighting in front of bigger crowds for more bountiful paydays, the script doesn't seem sure of what aspect of Saúl to focus on. Its spotlight softens when it should be getting sharper.

But Bernal, who at 44 could slide for 24, is never not captivating. He's convincing inside the ring and out, breathing life into his character at every step in his journey, his smile able to light up an entire arena's worth of fans. Pro wrestling is all about storytelling and storytellers and getting swept up in the theatricality of it all, and Bernal makes it easy to believe.

agraham@detroitnews.com

'Cassandro'

GRADE: B-

Rated R: for language, drug use and sexual content

Running time: 107 minutes

On Amazon Prime Video