Punch drunk
Film critic-turned-director Rod Lurie (The Contender (2000) and TV series Commander in Chief (2005)) offers up a deliberate, sober film with good performances that packs a surprisingly solid emotional wallop.
Erik Kernan Jr. (Josh Hartnett) plays a writer who’s coasting on the reputation of his famous-sportscaster father, writing so-so stories for a Denver newspaper under editor Metz (Alan Alda). Estranged from his wife Joyce (Kathryn Morris), Erik is even prepared to exaggerate his ‘great career’ to keep in the good books of his son Teddy (Dakota Goyo).
But his true ambitions still stir, and Kernan sees a chance when he lands an interview with magazine editor Whitley (David Paymer) – he has encountered a homeless man (Samuel L. Jackson) some days previously, who claims to be a great 1950s boxer named Bob Satterfield and, when Whitley’s not interested in any of his mundane story ideas, Erik pitches him an article about the man who calls himself ‘The Champ’. Everyone insists that Satterfield died 20 years ago, but the info that his research assistant (Rachel Nichols) digs up appears to back up The Champ’s story. He delivers a brilliant cover story, ‘Resurrecting the Champ’. Now Kernan’s a star and the work’s pouring in, but there’s just one problem – boxing expert Epstein (Peter Coyote) is adamant that Satterfield really is dead. ..
Based on a true(ish) story, Lurie and writers Michael Bortman and Allison Burnett examine the role that lies play in our everyday lives, and also explore the notion that, while the public frequently reacts with outrage to exposed scams, truth as a commodity is perhaps no longer the order of the day for the media.
To drive the point home, the film lingers on the actual emotional consequences of letting people down – the dynamics between The Champ (a really great performance from Jackson) and Kernan and Kernan and his son are far more realistic than one would normally expect from Hollywood mainstream.
Jackson is far removed from the wacky/wise homeless guy cliché – instead there’s a sense of real menace and insanity to the character that keeps the take credible, avoiding the other cliché extreme of ‘Scary Homeless Man’ while Hartnett masters both Kernard’s lazy ambition and the shame he feels when his lies return to haunt him.
The screenplay, meanwhile, plays very skilful games with the ‘It’s such a great story: who wouldn’t want it to be true?’ shtick and, overall, the film stands as an intriguing lesson in ethics.
112 mins.
