In the years that John Cena did The Marine he's apparently taken a few acting lessons. He does handle dialog with a minimum of credibility now though he did not have scenes with Danny Glover and only one with Patricia Clarkson.

Legendary is a nice, but hardly great family film and like Cena's other cinematic venture, produced by Vince McMahon who also produces his other acting gigs. He's from a wrestling family, his father was a state champion who was killed in a car crash and Cena's been at loose ends since, drifting from job to job and drinking more than he ought.

He's got a little brother that mom Patricia Clarkson is raising in the person of Devon Graye. Legendary's biggest problem is that you can hardly wrap your mind around the concept that Graye and Cena are brothers. Graye's the proverbial 98 pound weakling, but that's something of an exaggeration and fortunately for Graye if he goes out for high school wrestling there will be a weight class for him.

It's interesting also to see a pro wrestler in a film about wrestling as a real sport. But those guys with their attitudes you see on Smackdown learned their business doing what you see in Legendary.

Legendary is a nice if not great family film definitely one to rent for the kids.

Patricia Clarkson is a greatly under-rated actress who gives a very good performance as a conflicted mother, who blamed her oldest son for the death of her husband. The son has abandoned her and his much younger brother.

The brother takes up wrestling, the apparent family sport, in an attempt to bring everyone together. The older brother, at 28, has been in trouble with the law, and it's the younger one who makes an appealing plea to the judge.

The film is a good one as there is quite a bit of irony here. Wrestling led to the death of the father, and yet it brings the family back together. Naturally, there are the bullies who harass the younger son, but that's all taken care of once the older brother enters the pictures and trains the brother to be quite a wrestler for himself.

Danny Glover portrays a mysterious fisherman whose true identity is revealed at the end of the story. Madeleine Martin, as Chet's girlfriend, is miscast. That voice on her was not good, and therefore when she spoke, it sounded as if she were screeching.

Cal Chetley (Devon Graye) is a 135lb beanpole high school nerd getting bullied by fellow student Billy Barrow (Tyler Posey). He lives with his widowed mother Sharon (Patricia Clarkson). His older brother Mike (John Cena) is struggling and mostly absent. Mike and father were champion wrestlers and Cal wants to start wrestling. Sharon is not happy blaming the lost of her family and Mike specifically to wrestling. The next door neighbor girl Luli (Madeleine Martin) is completely infatuated with Cal.

This being a WWE movie. The biggest question for this is the acting ability of John Cena. While he can walk and talk, he doesn't have the nuance of emotional acting. He is just outclassed by Patricia Clarkson in their scenes. Devon Graye is not a great actor either, at least not yet. He needs to be much better as the lead. Madeleine Martin steals her scenes whenever she's on the screen. She has a spunky wacky character to play with. The story is very bland and unimaginative. It has no surprises or originality. This is strictly an after-school special TV movie.