Henry Winkler stars as Andy Schmidt, a young man with a passion for performing like nobody else. He craves for adulation from people and while in college he also falls for a young woman played by Kim Darby.
They eventually marry, much to the dismay of her parents. They move to New York and Andy cannot get an acting job because of his over acting, so one day he runs into a midget named Milton Miller (Herve Villechaize) who introduces Andy to the world of Pro Wrestling.
Andy finds the fame he adores in the squared circle and after many characters, he eventually becomes "The Lover" and a big star that he always wanted.
I LOVE THIS MOVIE!!! Winkler gives a great performance and so does Darby. Their relationship is tumultuous but finally settles down. This is a typical boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl story. It's told with a very comedic passion rarely seen in movies.
The Andy character is much like me in my younger days. I always wanted to perform so I went into making movies, acting in them and that's how the character of "El Zappato" was born. I loved the wrestling business and fully understand Winkler's motives for doing what he does in the film.
Carl Reiner handles the directing job with his usual skill and care and this movie really hits home for me. The rest of the cast includes Gene Saks, Harold Gould, Polly Holliday and Ed Begley, Jr.
