Susan Granger’s review of “Resurrecting the Champ” (Yari Film Group)
Film critic-turned-writer/director Rod Lurie (“The Contender,” TV’s “Commander-in-Chief”) scores again with this crowd-pleasing sports drama
Ambitious Erik Kernan (Josh Hartnett) is a struggling rookie sports reporter at the Denver Times who labors under the cloud of his late newspaperman father’s stellar reputation, trying – in vain – to please Metz (Alan Alda), his demanding editor.
One day, Erik, literally, stumbles onto an elderly homeless man, nicknamed Champ (Samuel L. Jackson), who was beaten up by a gang of juvenile delinquents while rummaging for booze in garbage cans in a downtown alley. The vagrant refers to himself as boxing legend Battling Bob Satterfield, who was believed to have passed away long ago. Satterfield was once a heavyweight ‘contender’ in every sense of the word, ranked #3 in the world and sparring with Rocky Marciano.
Encouraged by the editor (David Paymer) of the newspaper’s magazine section, Erik is determined to tell Champ’s story, and the co-dependent relationship that develops between writer-and-subject takes some wild jabs and makes unexpected bobs and weaves. Meanwhile, in the background, there’s Erik’s estranged wife/co-worker (Kathryn Morris) and young son (Dakota Goyo).
Wearing a gray wig of wild dreadlocks, Samuel L. Jackson is terrific as the battered-but-unbowed Champ. Josh Hartnett scores and – in supporting roles – so do Teri Hatcher and Peter Coyote.
Based on a true Los Angeles Times magazine story by J.R. Moehringer and adapted for the screen by Michael Bortman and Allison Burnett, it’s not only a boxing saga but also a contemplation of journalistic ethics – kind of like “Rocky” meets “All the President’s Men.” On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Resurrecting the Champ” is an uplifting, redemptive 7. As Erik observes: “It’s you that’s out there – and there’s no place to hide.”
