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Resurrecting the Champ comes very close to being a great film...except for one fatal flaw.

Josh Hartnett.

Patience, kids.  I’ll come back to that.

Erik Kernin Jr., is a struggling sports writer for the Denver Times, living in the shadow of his deceased father, a legendary radio commentator.  After covering a local boxing match, he breaks up a fight in the parking lot between a group of wise-ass punks and a homeless man known as “Champ.” An unlikely friendship sprouts up between Kernin and Champ, who claims to be Battlin’ Bob Satterfield, a boxing legend from the 1950’s thought by the world to be long dead. The two collaborate on the human interest story that will rocket Kerwin’s career to stardom...and catastrophe.

Unfortunately, if you’ve seen the tag line for this film (“Based on a true story, that was based on a lie.”), you already know how things turn out. This is a case where a film’s marketing undercuts the drama.  The film spends the majority of its time on the investigation and the creation of Kernin’s story, yet we knew before we started that it was all a sham, so it’s no surprise at all when the “Big Reveal” comes.

Fortunately for the audience, Resurrecting the Champ is ultimately not about the newspaper article or boxing.  It’s about integrity, father-son relationships, and one helluva powerhouse performance. 

Samuel L. Jackson’s extraordinary performance alone is worth giving this film a rental.  There is hardly a trace of the on-screen Jackson tough guy you are used to seeing.  Physically, vocally, emotionally, it is as if Jackson dissolved into a total embodiment of “Champ”, and, not only is it something to behold, it is a testament to what a skilled performer Jackson truly is.

And then...there is Josh Hartnett. 

After showing some surprising vulnerability in 30 Days of Night, Hartnett slips back into his blank-faced, dead-eyed routine here.  I never for a moment had a sense of any genuine internal emotional life going on in Erik Kernin, just a lot of posturing, glycerin tears and hair-flipping.

(I’m pretty sure you could make a fairly decent drinking game based on the number of times ol’ Josh tosses his coiffure in 100 minutes. Perhaps he’s having phantom pains for that old cowlick..?)

Since everything hinges on Hartnett’s character, it becomes a bit tedious.  And although the movie is probably 20 minutes too long, the final five minutes pack a powerful one-two emotional punch that worth hanging tough for.

DVD extras included director commentary track and featurette.

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