Late August is the traditional dumping ground for lousy movies. Hollywood knows not to waste promising product on potential audiences who are either outside getting in their last licks of summer or prepping for back-to-school after a season of frolic. So when even a slightly successful effort like “Resurrecting the Champ” comes along in these dog days, it actually stands out as more worthwhile by comparison than it might in a more abundant release time.
That’s not exactly a ringing endorsement, I know. But at least this unfocused jumble of sports biopic, journalism ethics study, and family relationship melodrama is a fact-based account set in the intriguing behind-the-scenes realms of boxing and newspapers and features some decent performances.
Director Rod Lurie, with screenwriters Michael Bortman and Allison Burnett, has adapted the story from J.R. Moehringer’s Los Angeles Times Magazine article about his own experience. The very photogenic Josh Hartnett shows off a mature sensibility in his portrayal of Moehringer’s fictionalized alter ego, Erik. He’s an ambitious Denver sports reporter at a professional crossroads who’s also separated from his more accomplished journalist wife Joyce (Kathryn Morris) and desperate to stay close to his little son Teddy (adorable Dakota Goyo).
One day Erik stumbles on an old homeless man who calls himself The Champ, played with simultaneous pathos and pluck by Samuel L. Jackson. Evidence suggests that this “bum” is really “Battling BobSatterfield,” an important heavyweight contender from the 1950s, who was thought to be deceased. Erik sees the telling of The Champ’s dramatic life story as a chance to advance his flagging career and impress — and maybe even win back — his estranged family. But the piece turns out to be more complicated than he expected; an ethical mess soon unfolds.
Haunted by the legacy of and his alienated relationship with his own late father, a legend in sports broadcast journalism, Erik becomes caught between the lure of the big time at work, young Teddy’s distorted idolization of him at home, and his increasingly tight bond with the elusive Champ.
Today’s passable diversion gets a status boost from the presence of reliable veteran character actors Alan Alda and David Paymer as Erik’s editors and Peter Coyote as a crusty old boxing trainer. Desperate Housewife Teri Hatcher is the only major casting goof here — overacting her emaciated posterior off, as a television casting honcho.
But all told, “Resurrecting the Champ” may not be a knock-out. It’s just a rare contender in a bleak movie period.
‘Resurrecting the Champ’
***
» Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Josh Hartnett, Alan Alda
» Director: Rod Lurie
» Rated PG-13 for some violence and brief language.
» Running Time: 111 minutes
