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34
10,000 B.C.
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36
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xx
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31
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41
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67
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54
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49
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34
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57
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xx
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71
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65
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24
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37
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xx
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58
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48
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55
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22
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69
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44
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53
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76
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37
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37
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61
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47
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55
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33
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93
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64
Wanted
36
What Happens in Vegas...
54
You Don't Mess with the Zohan
93
WALL-E
79
Iron Man
76
Shine a Light
73
Kung Fu Panda
71
Horton Hears a Who!
69
Redbelt
67
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
65
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
64
Wanted
62
Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, The
61
Stop Loss
61
Incredible Hulk, The
58
Mist, The
57
Forbidden Kingdom, The
57
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
55
Street Kings
55
Nim's Island
55
Baby Mama
54
You Don't Mess with the Zohan
54
Get Smart
53
Sex and the City: The Movie
49
Hancock
48
National Treasure: Book of Secrets
47
Strangers, The
44
Ruins, The
41
Drillbit Taylor
37
Made of Honor
37
Shutter
37
Speed Racer
36
College Road Trip
36
What Happens in Vegas...
35
Jumper
34
Happening, The
34
10,000 B.C.
33
Superhero Movie
31
Deception
24
Love Guru, The
22
Postal
xx
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
xx
Dark Knight, The
xx
Mamma Mia!
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

83
Alexandra
80
Band's Visit, The
76
Beauty in Trouble
47
Bella
80
Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
59
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55
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60
Brick Lane
70
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49
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83
Chop Shop
83
Chris & Don. A Love Story
78
Counterfeiters, The
52
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64
Dreams with Sharp Teeth
73
Duchess of Langeais, The
84
Edge of Heaven, The
52
Elsa & Fred
79
Encounters at the End of the World
62
Expired
64
Fall, The
51
Finding Amanda
57
Flawless
86
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63
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60
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45
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55
Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts
69
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74
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63
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55
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69
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60
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62
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63
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82
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38
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70
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30
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33
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53
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74
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52
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84
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61
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72
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51
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79
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71
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76
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81
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71
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54
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70
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72
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83
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56
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86
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79
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62
Wackness, The
37
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64
Water Lilies
66
When Did You Last See Your Father?
55
Without the King
72
Woman on the Beach
64
XXY
67
Year My Parents Went on Vacation, The
75
Young@Heart
86
Up the Yangtze
86
Flight of the Red Balloon, The
84
My Winnipeg
84
Edge of Heaven, The
83
Chop Shop
83
Paranoid Park
83
Alexandra
83
U2 3D
83
Chris & Don. A Love Story
82
Last Mistress, The
81
Tell No One
80
Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
80
Band's Visit, The
79
Reprise
79
Encounters at the End of the World
79
Visitor, The
78
Counterfeiters, The
76
Beauty in Trouble
76
Shotgun Stories
75
Young@Heart
74
Mongol
74
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
73
Duchess of Langeais, The
72
Woman on the Beach
72
Priceless
72
Tuya's Marriage
72
Surfwise
71
To the Limit
71
My Brother Is an Only Child
71
Roman de gare
70
Standard Operating Procedure
70
Trumbo
70
Love Songs
70
Caramel
69
Go-Getter, The
69
Operation Filmmaker
69
Jellyfish
68
Kabluey
68
Heartbeat Detector
68
Honeydripper
67
Year My Parents Went on Vacation, The
66
Son of Rambow
66
When Did You Last See Your Father?
64
Married Life
64
Dreams with Sharp Teeth
64
XXY
64
Water Lilies
64
Fall, The
63
Foot Fist Way, The
63
Gunnin for that #1 Spot
63
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
62
Stuck
62
Expired
62
Wackness, The
62
Kiss the Bride
61
OSS 117: Cairo - Nest of Spies
61
On the Rumba River
60
Fugitive Pieces
60
Brick Lane
60
Jihad for Love, A
59
Blind Mountain
57
Flawless
56
Unknown Woman
56
Then She Found Me
56
Sangre de mi sangre
55
Quid Pro Quo
55
Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts
55
Irina Palm
55
Bra Boys
55
Without the King
54
Tracey Fragments, The
53
Mister Lonely
52
Diminished Capacity
52
Elsa & Fred
52
Mother of Tears, The
52
My Blueberry Nights
51
Finding Amanda
51
Promotion, The
51
Savage Grace
49
Children of Huang Shi, The
47
Bella
45
Full Grown Men
38
Life Before Her Eyes, The
37
War, Inc.
34
Holding Trevor
33
Miss Conception
30
Meet Bill
29
Red Roses and Petrol
xx
Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Resurrecting the Champ
Yari Film Group Releasing
 |
|
FILM:
MPAA RATING: PG-13 for some violence and brief language
Starring
Samuel L. Jackson,
Josh Hartnett,
Kathryn Morris,
David Paymer,
Teri Hatcher,
Alan Alda,
Harry J. Lennix,
and
Peter Coyote
One night after leaving the paper, sports reporter Erik Kernan sees a gang of thugs beating up a homeless man. He notices how well the grizzly old fellow can take a punch. He bobs, he weaves, he lands a few good ones himself until Erik chases the thugs away, who leave jeers of how they beat "The Champ" in their wake. Erik realizes he has just rescued the legendary "Battling Bob Satterfield" and stumbled on the story of a lifetime. Rumor had it that Satterfield was dead...and yet here he was. An article about the rise, fall, and resurrection of a former heavyweight contender could get Erik's career off the ropes and breathe life into his confidence. A story like this could be the title shot he has been waiting for; a chance to change his life forever. (Yari Film Group Releasing)
| GENRE(S): |
Drama
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
J.R. Moehringer (Los Angeles Times Magazine article)
Allison Burnett
Michael Bortman
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Rod Lurie
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: April 1, 2008
Theatrical: August 24, 2007
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
111 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA |

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
80
Film Threat
Zack Haddad
It is great to see a boxing movie that portrays both boxing and Jackson in different lights.

75
San Francisco Chronicle
Mick LaSalle
It's the complexity of Lurie's moral universe that makes it linger in the mind.

75
Charlotte Observer
Lawrence Toppman
About a guy who stood on the brink of greatness but, because of one flaw he could never overcome, had to settle for being pretty good before he faded away. Strange, then, that the movie works exactly the same way.

75
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
Jackson disappears into his role, completely convincing, but then he usually is. What a fine actor. He avoids pitfalls like making Champ a maudlin tearjerker, looking for pity. He's realistic, even philosophical, about his life and what happened to him.

70
Chicago Reader
J.R. Jones
Treacle takes over in the last act, but most of this fact-based story by screenwriters Michael Bortman and Allison Burnett takes the inspirational sports drama into unexpected and morally complex territory.

70
The Hollywood Reporter
Duane Byrge
Charged by a knock-out performance from Samuel L. Jackson, this compelling story of manly redemption will deliver a winning boxoffice combination of word of mouth and ultimately step outside the generic ring of sports lore.

67
Christian Science Monitor
Peter Rainer
By skewing the film into a father-son inspirational saga, the filmmakers sell out the best possibilities in their material. Lurie clearly wants Resurrecting the Champ to be "more" than a sports movie, or a newspaper movie. Ironically, he ends up with less.

67
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
William Arnold
It's more intelligent than most Hollywood movies you'll find in the heat of summer, and its saving grace is the quality of its acting, including Jackson's uncompromising turn as the old fighter, and delicious bits by David Paymer and Alan Alda as veteran editors.

67
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Tasha Robinson
The cast is generally excellent, but Hartnett in particular comes across as convincingly complicated, alternately reprehensible and sympathetic.

67
Baltimore Sun
Michael Sragow
Jackson creates a searing study in reverse nobility as a character with a battered, street-poetic presence and subtle powers of sympathy that come into play even when he appears to be a rogue.

63
Chicago Tribune
Michael Phillips
The film is easy to take, though it must be said: It's almost 100 percent blather.

63
Premiere
Glenn Kenny
This picture reminded me of one of the things I like best about "All the President’s Men": It doesn’t give a good godd--- about Woodward and Bernstein’s personal lives.

63
Philadelphia Inquirer
Carrie Rickey
Struggles to get off the ropes and never quite establishes its rhythm. The film takes place in eternal moral twilight, dark enough to make faces look photogenically poignant, light enough to see the white lies.

63
TV Guide
Maitland McDonagh
Lurie's film never fully reconciles the story about newsroom ethics with the sentimental drama about bad dads and bereft sons.

60
The New York Times
Stephen Holden
For Mr. Lurie, who specializes in political subjects, Resurrecting the Champ is an encouraging return to film following the rise and fall of his television series "Commander in Chief."

60
Variety
John Anderson
Overly sentimentalized and the execution is slack. If not for Samuel L. Jackson's performance as the ravaged boxer, "Champ" would be of limited interest.

60
Los Angeles Times
Kevin Crust
Delivers a heckuva story marred by some credibility problems but lands the majority of its punches via subtly powerful performances and a moving undercard of paternal connection.

50
Miami Herald
Rene Rodriguez
The thoroughly unconvincing drama Resurrecting the Champ might be based on a true story, but that doesn't mean you're going to believe a single frame of it.

50
Boston Globe
Wesley Morris
If most boxing movies are about redemption, Resurrecting the Champ is a boxing movie that goes to exasperating lengths to redeem its boxing writer.

50
Village Voice
Robert Wilonsky
This isn't great raw material, though Lurie and his screenwriters try their best to portray Erik as some guilt-ridden evildoer who's perpetrated a great fraud.

50
Washington Post
Stephen Hunter
Hardly anything feels real, but what feels even more unreal is Hartnett with a cloying, sentimental, self-pitying performance. The liveliest thing in the film is the great Jackson, slumming again in a role miles beneath him.

50
Austin Chronicle
Marjorie Baumgarten
Stays on its feet through all the rounds, but it never “floats like a butterfly.”

50
Wall Street Journal
Joanne Kaufman
The movie itself -- which deals (not very interestingly) with the issue of journalistic integrity and (very predictably) with father-son relationships -- doesn't pack much of a wallop.

50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Jason McBride
The relationship between reporter and subject is always a tricky one, but in Resurrecting the Champ it's downright delusional.

50
Portland Oregonian
Shawn Levy
Clumsiness follows clumsiness -- the acting, the staging, the details of the plot -- until you reach the point of cool indifference. There's a lot more wrong here than can be corrected in a small space in the newspaper.

50
New York Daily News
Jack Mathews
The film itself is a tedious melodrama whose sole saving grace is the performance of Samuel L. Jackson as Tommy Kincaid.

33
Entertainment Weekly
Lisa Schwarzbaum
The gooey sanctity of the bond between fathers and sons all but nullify Jackson's zesty performance.

25
New York Post
Lou Lumenick
Well, it smells, all right, but authentic isn't the word I'd use for this maudlin male weepie, a compendium of the worst clichés of sports and journalism movies.


The average user rating for this movie is 7.4 (out of 10) based on 12 User Votes
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