Chuck

An indie drama, Chuck tells the story of the real life Rocky, Chuck the “Bayonne Bleeder” Wepner. The film follows professional Philadelphia boxer Chuck Wepner who gets a shot at the heavy weight boxing championship with Muhammad Ali, and soon after learns that Hollywood has made a film inspired by the fight and his life, and becomes obsessed with the film and rides its fame. Liev Schreiber gives a really strong performance, as does Naomi Watts. And the script has a nice pace and does a good job at using a first person narrative. However, it’s a little underdeveloped; not going too much into his boxing career or substance abuse issues. Also, the plot is kind of familiar; following a typical biopic formula with a rise, a fall, and a redemption. Yet despite its problems, Chuck is an interesting and cautionary tale about the dangers of reflected glory.

Like a punch drunk boxer, sometimes Chuck connected and sometimes it went down swinging, but it never gave up and ended up a technical knockout. A definite recommend.