MAJOR SPOILER ALERT! Erik, a young newspaper sports writer (Josh Hartnet, in a surprisingly great acting job) is stalled in his career because, as his editor (a nicely aged Alan Alda) points out, his writing has no personality, no pizazz. It's so boring "I forget your writing even as I read it." Erik also is separated from his wife and 6 year-old son. The estranged wife still lives in their million-dollar house. I was bothered by that: How could a low-status sports hack for a local newspaper afford it?
In a series of laughable clichés, Erik earnestly strains to spend "quality time" with his son, and, one suspects, win his wife back. He and his comely wife get along so well, one has no idea how they ever separated in the first place. That set-up smelled fake. Erik lies to his kid, claiming to know all the famous sports heroes; the kid is chirpy and so innocent and Hollywood sweet you almost want to slap him (not really, but the kid character WAS annoying).
Erik then meets an old bum named Champ (Samuel L. Jackson, with a wonderful pitch-perfect acting job) who was famous in 1950s as a world-class boxer who almost won the world title. Everyone thought the famous boxer died 20 years ago.
Erik sees a chance to score big in his career by doing a major story on Champ, his old glory days, and his fall from grace, etc. He dishonestly hides the idea from his editor (Alda), and goes over his head to the Publishers, who love it, and approve it.
It takes a few days, and what looked like a few hundred dollars (where DID that bush league reporter get all that dough?), for Champ to open up to Erik, and the story is then run as the cover story for the local Sunday supplement newspaper magazine. It takes him only 3 days to be a new star commentator on Showtime's TV cable sports show, and get a stack of lucrative offers from other publications.
Then an old boxing authority figure reveals to Erik that Champ is NOT the actual old famous boxer, but merely one of the real boxer's minor opponents; one who, in fact, the real boxer knocked out in merely 2 rounds. OK. It turns out that the famous boxer who was rumoured to have died 20 years ago really DID die 20 years ago.
We've heard so much about fabricated news stories in the last 10 or 15 years, and several movies and TV shows have covered it well. Been done to death, and is old news now. Various publications have also, in real life, been duped by con artists into printing false stories. It is embarrassing for the journalists, but hardly criminal, and not fatal. Erik did MOST of what he should have to verify the Champ's story, but indeed, there were probably a couple of things he could have tried a bit harder to verify. As it was, all he was guilty of was being tricked.
The movie tries to make much more of it, and the movie throws in virtually every possible dramatic angle and tired old cliché you could imagine. They crammed in things involving the ex-wife, the kid, the lying, the Champ, the real old dead boxer's surviving son, lawsuits, possible disgrace, etc.
Then at the end of the movie, all the problems mysteriously and magically disappear! Everything "gets all better," perfect, really, out of the blue. It all gets healed in the final scene. I am not sure exactly HOW it all got resolved, but it was. Even Champ, the bum who kept getting beaten up by local teenagers, finally redeems himself by beating the crap out of his main tormentor, then dying of a heart attack. His poetically avenged soul can now ascend, evidently, satisfied and properly redeemed, to Reformed Bum Heaven. Erik gets back with Wifey-Pooh. The kid's whiny little faith in his Super Dad was restored, and Erik's journalism career suddenly takes off and he becomes respected and famous, etc. He is suddenly transformed into this new hot property--- a journalistic "Phenom," a great writer and news star.
One wondered, in addition to the million dollar house, where did Erik's writing talent suddenly come from? If he was a crap and dull hack writer on Friday, how did he come close to a Pulitzer Prize the next Friday? And become a famous and beloved hot-shot journalist the week after that? Too many contrivances for me! The movie, therefore, had a rushed and clumsy vibe about it. Half-baked. It tried to cover WAY too much.
One last thing, and one of the surest signs of a novice director (Rod Lurie), virtually EVERYBODY was eating, and talking with their mouths full of food. In real life, constant eating and grunting and gasping and gulping whilst talking and interacting with others is rude and low class. Why is it that new directors have the mistaken belief that all those body functions cranked up to full volume on the big screen equal, mysteriously, verisimilitude? It's as if those shallow directors, exhibiting a puerile "film school" mentality, think they are "keeping it real"? Can't they comprehend human life and the ironies and dilemmas of human existence any deeper than that? What's next? Farts? Picking noses? Yuck! They just don't get it.
Overall, parts of this movie WERE kind of satisfying and sweet. And a bit uplifting. But also, parts were saccharine, soppy, stilted, stoopid, and clumsy.
I will say that the actor who played Polly, the newspaper's research librarian, was great. She was both beautiful and intriguing, but also had an intelligent and captivating look about her. Her name is Rachel Nichols, and I expect we'll be seeing more of her in the future.
In a series of laughable clichés, Erik earnestly strains to spend "quality time" with his son, and, one suspects, win his wife back. He and his comely wife get along so well, one has no idea how they ever separated in the first place. That set-up smelled fake. Erik lies to his kid, claiming to know all the famous sports heroes; the kid is chirpy and so innocent and Hollywood sweet you almost want to slap him (not really, but the kid character WAS annoying).
Erik then meets an old bum named Champ (Samuel L. Jackson, with a wonderful pitch-perfect acting job) who was famous in 1950s as a world-class boxer who almost won the world title. Everyone thought the famous boxer died 20 years ago.
Erik sees a chance to score big in his career by doing a major story on Champ, his old glory days, and his fall from grace, etc. He dishonestly hides the idea from his editor (Alda), and goes over his head to the Publishers, who love it, and approve it.
It takes a few days, and what looked like a few hundred dollars (where DID that bush league reporter get all that dough?), for Champ to open up to Erik, and the story is then run as the cover story for the local Sunday supplement newspaper magazine. It takes him only 3 days to be a new star commentator on Showtime's TV cable sports show, and get a stack of lucrative offers from other publications.
Then an old boxing authority figure reveals to Erik that Champ is NOT the actual old famous boxer, but merely one of the real boxer's minor opponents; one who, in fact, the real boxer knocked out in merely 2 rounds. OK. It turns out that the famous boxer who was rumoured to have died 20 years ago really DID die 20 years ago.
We've heard so much about fabricated news stories in the last 10 or 15 years, and several movies and TV shows have covered it well. Been done to death, and is old news now. Various publications have also, in real life, been duped by con artists into printing false stories. It is embarrassing for the journalists, but hardly criminal, and not fatal. Erik did MOST of what he should have to verify the Champ's story, but indeed, there were probably a couple of things he could have tried a bit harder to verify. As it was, all he was guilty of was being tricked.
The movie tries to make much more of it, and the movie throws in virtually every possible dramatic angle and tired old cliché you could imagine. They crammed in things involving the ex-wife, the kid, the lying, the Champ, the real old dead boxer's surviving son, lawsuits, possible disgrace, etc.
Then at the end of the movie, all the problems mysteriously and magically disappear! Everything "gets all better," perfect, really, out of the blue. It all gets healed in the final scene. I am not sure exactly HOW it all got resolved, but it was. Even Champ, the bum who kept getting beaten up by local teenagers, finally redeems himself by beating the crap out of his main tormentor, then dying of a heart attack. His poetically avenged soul can now ascend, evidently, satisfied and properly redeemed, to Reformed Bum Heaven. Erik gets back with Wifey-Pooh. The kid's whiny little faith in his Super Dad was restored, and Erik's journalism career suddenly takes off and he becomes respected and famous, etc. He is suddenly transformed into this new hot property--- a journalistic "Phenom," a great writer and news star.
One wondered, in addition to the million dollar house, where did Erik's writing talent suddenly come from? If he was a crap and dull hack writer on Friday, how did he come close to a Pulitzer Prize the next Friday? And become a famous and beloved hot-shot journalist the week after that? Too many contrivances for me! The movie, therefore, had a rushed and clumsy vibe about it. Half-baked. It tried to cover WAY too much.
One last thing, and one of the surest signs of a novice director (Rod Lurie), virtually EVERYBODY was eating, and talking with their mouths full of food. In real life, constant eating and grunting and gasping and gulping whilst talking and interacting with others is rude and low class. Why is it that new directors have the mistaken belief that all those body functions cranked up to full volume on the big screen equal, mysteriously, verisimilitude? It's as if those shallow directors, exhibiting a puerile "film school" mentality, think they are "keeping it real"? Can't they comprehend human life and the ironies and dilemmas of human existence any deeper than that? What's next? Farts? Picking noses? Yuck! They just don't get it.
Overall, parts of this movie WERE kind of satisfying and sweet. And a bit uplifting. But also, parts were saccharine, soppy, stilted, stoopid, and clumsy.
I will say that the actor who played Polly, the newspaper's research librarian, was great. She was both beautiful and intriguing, but also had an intelligent and captivating look about her. Her name is Rachel Nichols, and I expect we'll be seeing more of her in the future.