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List Price: $19.98 | | Label: 20th Century Fox
Salesrank: 6821
Released: April 8, 2008 |
| Our Price: $5.66 |
| Used Price: $2.39 |
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Based on a Los Angeles Times article a sports writer (Josh Hartnett) rescues a homeless man (Samuel L Jackson) who turns out to be a boxing legend believed to be dead.System Requirements:Running Time: 111 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA/TRUE STORY Rating: PG-13 UPC: 024543495499 Manufacturer No: 2249549
Description of Resurrecting the Champ:
Loosely based on a Los Angeles Times Magazine story by J.R. Moehringer, Resurrecting the Champ is a heartfelt, thematically ambitious drama that attempts to work on several levels, and mostly pulls it off. On one level it's the story of a sloppy journalist named Erik Kernan (Josh Hartnett) who learns a painful lesson in humility when he's forced to confront his own shortcomings as a father and a sportswriter. On another level it's a richly human tale of redemption between the flawed reporter who's desperate to match his late father's professional reputation, and a former boxing champion (Samuel L. Jackson) who's now a homeless drifter on the streets of Denver, Colorado. When Kernan seizes on "The Champ" as the kind of personal, humanitarian story that could give him a much-needed career boost, he falls into the trap of his own ambition, making a professional mistake that threatens to ruin his career forever. While attempting to impress his 6-year-old son (Dakota Goyo) and win back the respect of his estranged wife (Kathryn Morris, from TV's Cold Case), Kernan is groomed for celebrity by a sexy Showtime executive (Teri Hatcher), but must ultimately get his values and priorities in order. Resurrecting the Champ emerges as a surprisingly thought-provoking study of professional and personal ethics, with some equally compelling observations about the modern state of journalism-as-show-business. Directed with a delicately sentimental touch by former film critic Rod Lurie (The Contender, The Last Castle), Resurrecting the Champ lacks the sharp focus that could've made it a modest classic, but it's a welcome relief from the mindless mayhem of big-studio blockbusters. Lurie's careful handling of the material is blessed by excellent performances by Hartnett and Jackson, with stellar support from Morris, Alan Alda, David Paymer, and especially Peter Coyote, almost unrecognizable under old-age makeup as a veteran boxing reporter who sets Hartnett's character on the road to redemption. --Jeff Shannon
Resurrecting the Champ Reviews:
Redefining Success and Failure 
2008-10-05 - While only the true diehard boxing fan is likely to be familiar with Bob Satterfield, the thunderous-punching, small heavyweight of the 1950's who missed being heavyweight champion by a hair's breadth, the movie actually has almost nothing to do with the great fighter. At first glance virtually everyone contemplating watching this movie, myself included, has already imagined this movie from beginning to end before popping it in their DVD player, certain that they are about to watch the gripping saga of a talented sports hero/celebrity reduced to the inexcusable ravages of homelessness, yet another lesson on the intolerance of our society for those it perceives as "failures" generally and of the disabled specifically. You are prepared, no doubt, to witness the heart-tugging saga of a poor soul whose brain (and/or body) has been debilitated by too many punches, and the heartless society that kicks him when he is down because they never had the courage to do so when he was in his prime. Well, that IS a great story, and is an unfortunate true story for many ex-boxers (see Sam Langford, one of the greatest fighters of all time, e.g.), but that is not this story.
The fortunate viewer is treated instead to a story about the complexity and relativity of success and failure, contrasting an admixture of various failures and successes and the complete lack of a nexus between material reward for true success, and the punishment of destitution for true failure. The movie graphically shows the difficulty, and often, injustice, of applying such absolute final judgments as "success" and "failure" to an entire life, and how success/failure are in constant flux along the failure/success spectrum, not fixed finalities.
This is Samuel L. Jackson's best performance. His character is tragically aware of his state of variable reduced capacity, and even candidly rates it when asked how he is doing! Jackson also hauntingly and extremely accurately portrays how the mentally disabled often have periods of concise awareness and focus, and during those moments Jackson's eyes change accordingly to reflect The Champ's heightened awareness.
Jackson's great performance and a good storyline that you cannot predict or anticipate (and I have not given it away) are the two main reasons to see this very good movie.
Excellent movie with a great cast!
2008-08-05 - When I started watching this movie I was not sure about what to expect, Samuel Jackson and Josh Hartnett had a great screen presence and portrayed their characters very well. Dakota Goyo is an adorable child actor and was great to watch.
A must see!
The Champ 
2008-07-10 - Great acting from Josh Hartnett and Samuel Jackson! The story is good but the twist is disheartening! It is worth a watch. There is language so it isn't for all ages.
A Kock-Out Punch!
2008-06-23 - A solid morality play with a jaw-dropper of a twist ending, RESURRECTING THE CHAMP scores a knockout with great acting and a thought-provoking message.
Samuel L. Jackson turns in a brilliant performance as a washed-up boxer who now calls the streets and back alleys of Denver his home. Josh Harnett also shows subtle acting chops as the young reporter determined to tell the Champ's story. Alan Alda, too, is utterly convincing as the tough but kind newspaper editor who pushes his young writers to greatness.
The film shows a wonderful understanding of newsroom dynamics, and how writers and editors conspire to reel in a great story on deadline.
The movie's only weak point comes in the form of some heavy-handed moralizing that would have been better left to the viewers' own conclusions.
However - with its truly shocking conclusion and an excellent ensemble cast, RESURRECTING THE CHAMP is a film no viewer will soon forget.
The biggest fight of all: truth vs. myth...
2008-06-23 - Never mind what you think of boxing pictures, sports pictures, or Josh Hartnett. Resurrecting the Champ concerns weighty matters of journalistic ethics, workplace ethics, how fathers raise their sons, the lives of the homeless, the steps people must take to achieve maturity, and most importantly, how we create myths about ourselves, especially with the help of the media. Along the way, it's about how history grinds up celebrities/heroes/public figures. (Is Samuel L. brilliant? You bet, but this reviewer's favorite scene just might be the one with Harry Lennix.)
