Resurrecting The Champ
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 1 hour, 51 minutes
Directed by: Rod Lurie
Starring:
Samuel L. Jackson - Champ
Josh Hartnett - Erik
Kathryn Morris - Joyce
Alan Alda - Metz
Rachel Nichols - Polly
Teri Hatcher - Andrea Flak
Feel-good cinema doesn’t get richer than Resurrecting the Champ, based on the true story of a fallen champion boxer and the relationship he develops with an intrepid reporter. Feel-good flicks tend to force schmaltz down your throat and cheat their way to a cheap ending which feels neither real nor rewarding. But Champ is a fascinating film which examines issues of journalistic ethics, the relationships of fathers to sons, and notions of ego and image. Because the movie is trying to be as accessible as possible, it can be a bit heavy-handed, especially towards the end as we’re informed about the valuable bond between fathers and sons in case you missed all the talk about fathers and sons from the previous two hours.
Despite the film’s competent direction and layered script, the casting of the film’s two main leads may be the film’s biggest misfire. Josh Hartnett playing a father is technically believable but the guy has such a young face that even though the actor is 28-years-old, he could still convincingly play a high-schooler. Samuel L. Jackson hurts himself as the Champ as he takes on a high-pitched voice and a ragged appearance that remind you that while he can act, he’ll need to deliver far more varied performances and stop taking self-parodying roles like last year’s Snakes on a Plane where he’s becomes so predictable that even the faceless ego-mass of the Internet could write his lines (“I've had it with these motherfucking snakes on this motherfucking plane” is the Internet’s contribution to that film’s script).
It would have been nice to see a slightly older actor play Hartnett’s role and a character actor play Champ, but both actors have the talent and the script to make the roles work and under director Rod Lurie’s capable direction, Resurrecting the Champ is about as good as feel-good cinema gets.
Words by
Matt Goldberg
8.6.07