An "almost-accurate" account of a real-life event

Rating: 8/10 (10 June 2005)

This movie was truly inspirational and entertaining, HOWEVER, a few days after viewing it, I read not one, but two articles in The Kansas City Star, in which Max Baer, Jr. (Jethro Bodine of "The Beverly Hillbillies" fame) criticized the director, Ron Howard, for portraying Max Baer, his father, to be a monster. In real life, Max Baer had nightmares about the boxer who died as a result of injuries sustained in one of his fights. He even gave up boxing for a time. When he returned to the ring, he lost four of his next six fights because he was so overcome with grief. What Mr. Howard didn't bring to light was the fact that Max Baer was so remorseful over his opponent's death that he paid for the college education of each of that fighter's sons. While Max Baer WAS a wise-cracking person, he took no joy in being responsible for the death of an opponent. I believe that that fact should have been brought out. Indeed! It was a stimulating, RAH-RAH movie, but Max Baer Jr. has a legitimate complaint. While I enjoyed the movie, seeing Jethro's comments in print dimmed the luster of a great performance by Russell Crowe. No disrespect to Russell, but I believe that Ron Howard could and should have been a bit more objective in his portrayal of Max Baer. That's why my rating dropped it from a 9 to an 8.