Resurrecting the Champ

Plot synopsis:
Erik Kernan Jr. (Josh Hartnett) is a young sports reporter for a major Denver newspaper. He is frustrated that his editor is burying some of his reports on sporting events. Ralph Metz (Alan Alda), the editor, explains that Erik's stories are boring, too dry with no personality. Erik's father, dead for some time, had been a famous sports broadcaster. Erik apparently has profited from his father's name, but also has the burden of his style being compared to his father's. Because of his frustration with his editor, Erik is hoping to find other reporting work.Erik has a 6 year old son who lives with Erik's wife, Joyce (Kathryn Morris). Joyce and Erik are separated. We learn that Erik has tried to make himself seem more important in his boy's eyes than he is by falsely claiming friendships with famous athletes.Near the parking lot of a sports arena, three possibly drunk young men are deriding an old homeless man (Samuel L. Jackson), who calls himself "Champ" and claims to have been a professional boxer. They obviously don't believe him and force him to fight one of them. He resists but eventually fights back, showing that he really can fight. The three then gang up on him. Erik, leaving a fight he was covering at the arena, comes to Champ's aid. Eventually Erik learns that Champ was once a well regarded contender, Bob Satterfield, who had fought several famous fighters, such as Ezzard Charles and Jake LaMotta. People thought he died long ago.At a job interview to be a sports writer for a weekly magazine, Erik commits to do a feature story on this fighter and what happened to him after he lost a humiliating major fight. If the magazine owner and editor like the piece they might hire him. Erik gets Polly (Rachel Nichols), a research assistant at the paper, to dig into old records for information about Bob Satterfield's career and family, while keeping the search secret from Erik's boss. Meanwhile, Erik meets more with Champ. He takes Champ to a relatively minor fight he is assigned to cover, and becomes impressed with the man's boxing expertise that allows Champ to predict a knockout by the underdog.Erik contacts many of the still-living people who knew Satterfield when he was still up and coming. They are surprised to learn that Satterfield is alive, saying that they had heard he died long ago. He even gets Champ and Jake LaMotta on the phone to talk about old times. However, one contact, Satterfield's son, hangs up on him as soon as he hears Erik's name. Eventually the magazine publishes Erik's article. It is extremeky well received and is picked up by the national media. People suggest it be nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.But the publicity brings Erik into contact with morer old timers who knew Satterfield and are pretty sure he is long dead. Eventually Erik learns that Champ is not Satterfield after all, but another lesser fighter who Satterfield defeated. Erik is faced with a moral dilemma of announcing his error or suppressing the information and bask in his "success." Erik initially makes the self-serving choice, but he does not find his success to be satisfying. Eventually he decides to tell his editors about the mistake but before he can do so he learns that he and his paper are being sued by Satterfield's son. The son is upset because he and others had long known that Champ was impersonating his father, and because Erik's story falsely said that Satterfield, Jr. and Sr. were estranged. Everyone accuses Erik of not having done due diligence in checking out Champ's authenticiy.In the end, Satterfield, Jr. is satisfied with Erik's proposal to write another article about his error and including material about Bob Satterfield that Jr. had long wanted someone to publish. Erik discovers that his 6 year old will be proud of his father even if his father does not know the famous people he claimed to know.

Tags: flashback

Review:
Jackson in a lot of movies and so I am quite aware what a fine actor he is, so I wasn't surprised he was so good in this film.
Josh Hartnett was fine in the co-leading role of this story but it was Jackson who really got my attention in every scene.This is a very involving story that grabs you and won't let go.
You leave the movie feeling great and for reasons that I will not get into, it makes you want to call your dad and tell him how much you love him (or your son).
Jackson's portrayal of the worn-out boxer, but the true revelation of the film is the acting of Josh Hartnett, who I have never thought could be so believable or appealing.
This movie was able to provide a great story without the usual trash that's seen in many of the films we see today.
For those of you use to films by Rod Lurie, this movie will take you by surprise; in a very good way.
Resurrecting the Champ delivers all that, but in so many ways it was better than the Lurie movies I have learned to love.
This was a great risk for Rod, but it paid off because it resulted in a movie that will no doubt become the part of many film libraries.While this move is set around a newspaper and boxing, this is really a movie about fathers and sons.
Jackson stands out in this heartfelt movie about a sports writer (played by Josh Hartnett), estranged from his wife (Cold Case's Kathryn Morris), who works to shine the limelight once more on a former boxer (Jackson) who has become homeless.
In addition to Jackson, there's great work from young Dakota Goyo as Hartnett's son, and Rachel Nichols as the co-worker who assists in the writer's research.
Sam Jackson completely immersed himself in this role and gave an Oscar worthy performance and Josh Hartnett was subtle, thoughtful and honest.
The performances are stellar across the board, with a special mention to the film's leads, Josh Hartnett and Sam Jackson.
Jackson plays "Champ", a one-time up and coming boxer who climbs the ranks to #3 in the world, to eventually be reduced to a homeless man scaling the trash cans of Denver.Hartnett and Jackson create an unexpected friendship in his quest to write a magazine article about the journey of this man's forgotten life.
The way that Hartnett's characters comes to understand the damages he could do to his relationship with his son, by living through it with champ is powerful and a important lesson for all parents.I truly hope this film gets the respect and attention it deserves from critics and audiences alike.
The film is passable, and even enjoyable at times, with a good message and a meaningful story about fathers and sons at its core.Hartnett, like the rest of the cast, do a serviceable job and the acting is pretty good throughout the film, though people thinking Jackson will win or even be nominated for a flick like this need to put down the Kool Aid. It's a nice little film, a modest surprise even, but hardly anything award worthy.You can read my full review online at RazorFine Review..
The movie becomes long in the second half and though Teri Hatcher plays a small supporting role, I felt the story could have done without her character all together.
here's about the highest compliment I can pay the film and its maker: On the one hand, this is very much a contemporary film, once that addresses all the issues that are most important to thinking people, those who still try to live a moral life in what appears to be an amoral world, in a way that touches very deep at what the best movies have always been all about.
Jackson and Josh Hartnett, in which struggling sports writer Erik Kernan (Hartnett) meets a homeless man who claims to be "Champ," a former boxing champion who many believe to be dead (Jackson).
At the same time he is writing the story, Kernan is also attempting to save his failing marriage and be a father his son can admire and be proud of.Hartnett is an award-winning actor who has most recently starred in The Black Dahlia and Lucky Number Slevin (2006).
Resurrecting the Champ is directed by Rod Lurie who has also directed television series "Commander in Chief" (2005) and "Line of Fire" (2003-04).The actors in this movie play their roles convincingly, from Hartnett and Jackson to Dakota Goyo, who plays Hartnett's six-year-old son.
It has boxing for those who are sports enthusiasts, it presents the issue of ethics in the work place, particularly journalism, but the movie can also appeal on a more all-inclusive level as we watch the characters struggle with the consequences of the lies they have told in order to live up to others' expectations.This movie can appeal to anyone who enjoys a straightforward drama.
Director, Rod Lurie, who until a few years ago, was a - gasp!- critic, could have moved things along a little faster and perhaps cut down the subplots a little, but this is still an enjoyable film, with an Oscar-worthy performance from Samuel L.
The project is apparently a true story (sort of) based on a Los Angeles Times article.Josh Hartnett is Erik, a struggling sports reporter who comes across a homeless man with a tale to tell.
It seems the indigent man, known around the neighborhood as 'Champ', whom Erik saves from the cruel attentions of some young idiots, was once a semi-successful boxer named 'Battling Bob' Satterfield who had been rated 3rd in the world.
Really wonderfully crafted film.Excellent acting particularly by Sam Jackson, Josh Hartnett and Peter Coyote.
Luckily, the story zig-zagged thereafter.To be honest, I wasn't really sure I wanted to watch Resurrecting the Champ, a drama about a young reporter who discovers that a former boxing great is living on the streets of Denver.
Meanwhile, Erik is dealing with his separation from his wife Joyce (Kathryn Morris), who has custody of their young son Teddy, and he feels as if he's stuck in stasis with his current job.All of that changes when, while walking home late one night, he comes across a trio of drunken college-age kids beating up a homeless man.
(Josh Hartnett) for the Denver Times finds homeless Champ (Samuel L.
He interviews secretly with magazine editor Whitley and in desperation, comes up with a pitch to write about Satterfield.Josh Hartnett is living off of his good looks and it's very douchy.
The twist takes the movie from a sappy feel-good story into someplace a little bit deeper..
I had saw this movie advertised but never bothered with it.Then i decided to give it a go as i was bored.It was a heartfelt and very touching story.It was sad to see a former champion who had lost everything and was getting his chance to get back in the spotlight.Samuel L Jackson really stood out in this movie.Even Josh Hartnett gave a decent performance.Rachael Nichols stood out as well i thought.Teri Hatcher of Desperate Housewives gave a nice performance.Also all the cast were great acting in this movie.I really enjoyed it.Its sad to think that former champions and heroes really fall apart and that sometimes there is not life after the ring in this case.I could see that the actors and actresses were actually trying their best in this movie to give the best performances that they could give..
Resurrecting The Champ isn't your typical boxing movies like Rocky, Cinderella Man nor Million Dollar Baby.
Jackson's role as "The Champ." When we think of Samuel, first thing that pops in our head are, The eternal all time badass mother****er, a man built with guts made of steel and endless slang of swear words with comedy naturally in them.
Resurrecting the Champ a good film worth watching..
Resurrecting the champ has the exact story line as a real life incident where a guy was claiming to be Buckwheat from the Little Rascals.
The story is basically a meeting between a ambitious journalist that wants his son to be proud of him and a boxing champ who climbed to be #3 in the world, reduced to being a homeless man scaling the streets in Denver, and they start a friendship but soon Josh Harnett's character starts to dig and find out all is not what it seems.
It was a good film but I think it dragged a bit and was a bit longer than necessary since at some points the film goes in a direction where the audience already consumed while not adding anything much, and the long running time doesn't add anything extra to Eric and the Champ to the point it fleshes them out very well either which makes the movie a bit slow, especially the champ cause it don't really show how he got to where he was, and so you just don't care for the characters as much and some of it is just dull while it don't explain any of the stuff the audience may have questions about.
Despite the flaws it was a good movie, although Jackson carried the film.7.8/10.
when i saw the trailer i thought it was going to be a sports movie (so I went!) but this is actually a great drama about love, friendship, family, and--no kidding--how to live a worthwhile life.
The camera work is very good with flashbacks done very smoothly which is always a danger with the "old champ" style story.Where this movie failed is focusing on all the white people's reaction to the old boxer man's story when the most important thing was the story itself, which was not fleshed out enough.Samuel Jackson's character was fascinating, and it was a real missed opportunity to follow HIM more often in the plot instead of following our pretty boy reporter everywhere.
Samuel Jackson stars as a high pitched talking' old boxer- the only interesting character in the entire film other than the fat drunk rich kid that wants to fight.Scenes of the reporter's family relationship were especially unnecessary waste of film that belonged in some other movie, not this story..
Erik, a young newspaper sports writer (Josh Hartnet, in a surprisingly great acting job) is stalled in his career because, as his editor (a nicely aged Alan Alda) points out, his writing has no personality, no pizazz.
Erik lies to his kid, claiming to know all the famous sports heroes; the kid is chirpy and so innocent and Hollywood sweet you almost want to slap him (not really, but the kid character WAS annoying).Erik then meets an old bum named Champ (Samuel L.
Everyone thought the famous boxer died 20 years ago.Erik sees a chance to score big in his career by doing a major story on Champ, his old glory days, and his fall from grace, etc.
They crammed in things involving the ex-wife, the kid, the lying, the Champ, the real old dead boxer's surviving son, lawsuits, possible disgrace, etc.Then at the end of the movie, all the problems mysteriously and magically disappear!
Not that there is anything wrong with that sort of thing I just like the way this movie turned out since it takes a turn you wouldn't necessarily expect.Josh Hartnett plays a young-ish reporter whose career isn't moving quite as fast as it should.
But Hartnett is the star of this movie and I think he does really good work.
Jackson is awesome and convincing, as is Alan Alda as the tough old school editor, Peter Coyote as the wizened old boxing insider, Terri Hatcher revved up like on amphetamines, but Hartnett brings the movie down.
Jackson) did.This was a beautiful story about that relationship between fathers and sons and it was also a great story about being a man.It had some great performances besides the two mentioned: Kathryn Morris ("Cold Case") as Erik's wife and co-worker, Alan Alda as his boss, Teri Hatcher as a perfect Cougar, and Rachel Nichols (The Woods, Charlie Wilson's War)..
The first half of the movie is mostly focused on Erik (Josh Hartnett) getting to know more about Champ (Samuel L.
In a turn of events toward the end of the movie, Erik winds up having more in common with Champ's struggle in life as a child with his father and then as a father toward his son, than he thought he ever would.
Josh Hartnett fumbles in a role that Topher Grace perfected in Shattered Glass; he lacks the charisma of a journalist and his performance is overshadowed each time he shares the screen with Samuel L.
In five minutes, Jackson is able to conjure the emotion that Hartnett works to achieve in several scenes.The glaring flaws in this movie are made all the more obvious because of its painfully slow pace, which was created to expose a strained relationship between Hartnet and his on-screen wife, Kathyrn Morris--but you never know why the relationship is on the outs.Most refreshing was a fast-talking Hatcher who, much like Samantha in Sex and the City, used her feminine wiles and quick talking to get what she wants.The denouement was just as ridiculous as the oversights of the characters (who, we're supposed to believe, were considered for Pulitzers!) and highly unbelievable.Wait for it on DVD, where it will undoubtedly be in a month..
THE PLOT: It's the story of a hard-working young reporter (Josh Hartnett) trying to prove himself to his boss (Alan Alda), his son, his wife, and himself.
He writes a spectacular "where are they now" story about an ex-professional boxer (Samuel Jackson) who has since become homeless and pitiful.
Just watched this film and I'll tell you straight away I am not one of these critics who will tell you all about the art of a movie, Im just a movie fan.The acting in this film is superb and if Samuel Jackson ever deserved an Oscar it is for this film, but its probably not the sort of "in" film the Oscar committee go for.The main reason I am writing on here is because this film like many others got me interested in the subject matter as it is based on truth, so I looked up on the web about the real writer (J.R.Moehringer), and it turns out one of the main parts of the story is not very flattering to him.
It is a great bit of writing and it is easy to tell how it inspired a film, I'm just not quite sure why they changed this important part, it does seem a bit hard on Moehringer who did spend a lot of time checking his facts and did get to the real story.......
My problem with Josh Hartnett is he is a bore, I've never met him but I bet he's got no personality, I don;t think I've seen one film he;s in that I've liked.
If there was a saving grace to this film, it was samuel jackson ( a man who definitely has a personality) who was excellent as the homeless, deceiving bum, there was also a good cameo from teri hatcher and she should definitely have had a couple more scenes.
Satterfield is stumbled upon by a journalist desperate for a unique story, played by Josh Hartnett.To say any more about "Champ" would be to spoil several key revelations.
And in the end it turns out to be a pretty moving and powerful statement about the importance of honesty in life and how we all need to live (and die) with integrity, honest about ourselves and able to be proud of ourselves.You get the impression (from the title and from the early direction of the movie) that this is going to be a story about a down on his luck ex- boxer and how he got there.
He's "discovered" one night by Erik Kernan (Josh Hartnett) - a reporter covering the local boxing beat for the Denver Times who dreams of bigger things and is frustrated both by his limited role with the paper and by having to live up to the reputation of his late father - a famous sportscaster.
Kernan stumbles upon the homeless man after covering a fight, discovers that he's a former contender named Bob Summerfield (but who goes by the name of Champ) and decides that this is his path to greater things - he'll write a human interest story about this guy that will get him national attention.
This film sends a good father-son message out there with Erik (the journalist), his son, and the Champ.
Hard to categorize, good movie for acting of Samuel Jackson..
Josh Hartnett is Erik Kernan, a sports writer for a newspaper but isn't in great favor as the movie begins.
It is a good movie, and the character Samuel Jackson creates is just great, in an Oscar-caliber performance.
"It may all be a lie, but the movie is about true friendship, and the true bond between father and son." Whether you've had a good relationship with your father/son or bad, this movie will most likely bring tears to your eyes.I have always thought Josh Hartnett ("Erik Kernan") is a great actor, and I have always thought Samuel L.
Jackson is playing his role remarkably good, or if Josh Hartnett is the one to make Samuel L.
Sports reporter Erik (Josh Hartnett) meets former boxing champ Bob Satterfield (Samuel L.
Muddled melodramatic adaptation of J.R. Moehringer's LA Times Magazine article about a down-and-out homeless man whose claim to be a former professional boxer (Jackson in a terrific performance) has ramifications for the young, determined writer (a miscast Hartnett) whose dream of hitting the big-time with an exclusive story gets lost in the shuffle of what could've been a fine film but filmmaker Rod Lurie fictionalizes a father-son paradigm that is a strain on an otherwise noble attempt..
By chance Erik comes to the rescue of a homeless man that calls himself the Champ(Samuel L.