Resurrecting the Champ

List Price: $19.98 Discount Price: $5.50

Customer Reviews:

A Kock-Out Punch! [Posted on 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 Champ [Posted on 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.

Excellent movie with a great cast! [Posted on 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!

Redefining Success and Failure [Posted on 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.

"HOW YOU FEELIN' TODAY CHAMP?" OH.. ABOUT 40 %! .....2 1/2 STARS! [Posted on 2008-10-12]
It's a shame to let such a good premise end up being such a mediocre movie! 'Resurrecting The Champ' could have been a great film, but it ends up feeling about as deep as the puddle of u r i n e "the champ" leaves in his alley every night! We never really learn anything about him and the story is more about a mediocre journalist trying to prove himself. Josh Hartnett lacks the acting skills to do anything with his role and there are a number of side stories that are distracting and the time could have been used developing a real story about this "down and out" boxer. Samuel Jackson turns in a good performance and it's the first time I can remember he wasn't shouting his lines at everyone in a film! It's OK for a rental, but I wouldn't waste my time on a second viewing.

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