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Disabilities at the Multiplex: Resurrecting the Champ

Disabilities at the Multiplex
With Stephen Snart

Resurrecting the Champ

Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Josh Hartnett, Kathryn Morris, Dakota Goyo and Alan Alda
Written by Michael Bortman and Allison Burnett
Directed by Rod Lurie
Distributor: Yari Film Group Releasing
Release Date: August 24 (select cities)
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 111 minutes

Loosely based on a story reported in a L. A. Times Magazine article in 1997, Resurrecting the Champ tells a tale of a brash, young journalist and a former heavyweight boxer turned brain-damaged homeless man. The former boxer, played with verve by the intrepid Samuel L. Jackson, is first seen rummaging through a dumpster behind a Denver sporting complex. He’s become popular with a group of mid-twenty dimwits who come around and give him a few dollars in return for boxing with “The Champ.” One evening, after an unspectacular bantamweight match, local sportswriter Erik Kernan (Josh Hartnett) discovers The Champ and saves him from the group of drunken amateur pugilists with the type of Good Samaritan ethos that only exists in the movies. After talking with The Champ for a few minutes, he learns that the local homeless man is actually Bob Satterfield, a once-great boxer in the mid-50s.

Meet Columnist Stephen Snart

Stephen Snart is a film critic for The L Magazine and TheCinemaSource.com. He holds a B.A. in Cinema Studies from New York University and is currently pursuing a MA in Contemporary Cinema Cultures at King's College, London. Links to his reviews can be found at fluxingphilosophic.blogspot.com.