Features







2007-08 Oscar Calendar



[Monday, December 3, 2007]

Official Screen Credits
Forms Due.


[Wednesday, December 26, 2007]

Nominations ballots mailed.


[Saturday, January 12, 2008]

Nominations polls close
5 p.m. PST.


[Tuesday, January 22, 2008]

Nominations announced
5:30 a.m. PST
Samuel Goldwyn Theater


[Wednesday, January 30, 2008]

Final ballots mailed.


[Monday, February 4, 2008]

Nominees Luncheon


[Saturday, February 9, 2008]

Scientific and Technical
Awards Dinner


[Tuesday, February 19, 2008]

Final polls close 5 p.m. PST.


[Sunday, February 24, 2008]

79th Annual
Academy Awards Presentation
Kodak Theatre

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« “Sunshine” (**1/2)… | Main | “The Bourne Ultimatum… »

“Resurrecting the Champ” (***)

champ1.jpg


“Resurrecting the Champ” is Rod Lurie’s most thematically complex film to date. It is also clearly his most personal – a film that plumbs the psyche of a journalist ethically conflicted. A former journalist and film critic himself, Lurie knows well enough the world of newsrooms and beat reporting. But it might be that emotional over-investment that eventually tangles “Resurrecting the Champ”’s potential into something merely enjoyable as opposed to the greater moralistic drama it clearly aspires to be.

At its core, the film is about a number of things. Front and center are father-son relationships, always a soft spot for this viewer. Also leading the charge is journalistic integrity, albeit a theme that rears its head deep into the film. There are elements of reckless ambition and notions of honesty at play as well, and truly, the mixture is a healthy and conceivable one to balance on the canvas of a cinematic undertaking. It’s quite the original thematic soufflé, if you will.


Josh Hartnett stars as Erik Kernan, a composite of Los Angeles Times reporter J.R. Moehringer, upon whose Los Angels Times Magazine article the film is based. Separated from his wife, desperate to stay in his son’s life and aching for a professional break, Kernan passes his days as a sports journalist with the Denver Times, covering miniscule or, in his view, trivial events that typically find themselves buried in the sports section by editor Metz (Alan Alda).


champ2.jpg


One day Kernan stumbles upon a homeless man known to the neighborhood as Champ (Samuel L. Jackson) and finds the opportunity he has been looking for. It seems that Champ is none other than former boxing great “Battling” Bob Satterfield, long considered dead and certainly not presumed living on the streets of Denver. Taking his shot and deceiving his editor for the more venerable coverage of the Denver Times Magazine (the switch from Los Angeles is awkward, but so be it), Kernan pitches the story to editor Whitley (David Paymer, in a hilarious background performance) and takes to interviewing a subject who will open his eyes to insights about himself, yada, yada, yada.


A lot of that seems expected and even reads as trite as I hammer the thoughts out in this space, but where “Resurrecting the Champ” approaches something more, something deeper, is in the parallels it begins to sketch out between father-son honesty and the greater good honesty and responsibility of a journalist. Questions of lies told in love being as damaging as lies told in malice start to surface and, honestly, begin to make a lot of sense. But they also eventually find themselves drowned out by the surrounding thematic imagery and connectivity, multiple valid points striving to land on the bull’s-eye at the exact same time.


All of that said, I don’t believe Samuel L. Jackson has given a more thorough performance in the five years since “Changing Lanes.” I would consider taking it back as far as “Jackie Brown” or even “Pulp Fiction” to find a portrayal from the actor as lived-in as this, one that doesn’t feel like “Sam doing his thing.” Jackson is every bit as astounding in nuance and inflection as in physicality. He becomes Champ in this film, and I’d say it is one of the few award-worthy performances we’ve seen thus far in 2007.


champ3.jpg


Josh Hartnett is capable, though there are many moments that leave you wondering how he continues to find himself employed. There remains nothing compelling about Hartnett’s appearance, nothing charismatic about his work and certainly nothing demanding “must-see” attention. I don’t get it, and maybe that’s on me, but it seems someone else could have served the role more succinctly. I find myself considering the words of Metz early in the first act: “There’s a lot of typing, not much writing.” Try transforming the notion into a description of acting and I’d say we have Hartnett pegged.


Late in the second act, “Resurrecting the Champ” takes a detour that I dare not reveal here. This crucial moment is when the film indeed engages the viewer in its message in ways some might view as manipulative, but I would consider somewhat original and even daring. But it is difficult to navigate territory this thick with meaning and not lose something, so it remains that Rod Lurie is a filmmaker caught up in the flaws of his projects.


“The Contender” is still his finest effort, a film not without complications. “The Last Castle” and “Deterrence” are certainly interesting failures in their own rights. And he’s sure to have a tricky time with the upcoming “Nothing But the Truth,” concerning the Valerie Plame affair. But “Resurrecting the Champ” seems in some ways like another stepping stone for Lurie toward a more cogent and solidified feature excursion, something I have no doubt he will some day accomplish. For now, in many ways, it all just seems like practice.

Comments

I told you. Saw a rough cut of this last fall. I wasn't crazy about it then, but I loved Sam Jackson. Supporting Actor is shaping up to be really competitive this year (Bardem, Jackson, Travolta+ whatever happens in the fall.)
Lurie sure loves his second act reversals doesn't he?

Nothing But the Truth isn't necessarily based on Plame. It's evidently parallel to it. From what I've heard, it has more to do with the person who won't reveal her sources than the person whose identity is leaked. Lurie said that he wrote the part to be played by a big A-lister actress as an Oscar Bait type role, and that the film would probably only get made if it got a star attached to it. Also has a second act reversal evidently.

You told me...?

And I'm actually well aware of what the Plame film will be, though it was indicated to me off the record. It will be another foray into the world of journalism, it seems, tackling the subject from what looks to be the more interesting angle.

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2008 Year in Advance Predictions


UPDATED: 2/25/2008





Main Charts | Tech Charts



[Motion Picture]

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

“Doubt”

“Frost/Nixon”

“Revolutionary Road”

“The Soloist”



[Directing]

David Fincher
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

Ron Howard
“Frost/Nixon”

Gus Van Sant
“Milk”

Sam Mendes
“Revolutionary Road”

Joe Wright
“The Soloist”



[Actor in a Leading Role]

Benicio Del Toro
“The Argentine”

Jamie Foxx
“The Soloist”

Frank Langella
“Frost/Nixon”

Sean Penn
“Milk”

Brad Pitt
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”



[Actress in a Leading Role]

Vera Farmiga
“Nothing But the Truth”

Angelina Jolie
“Changeling”

Julianne Moore
“Blindness”

Meryl Streep
“Doubt”

Kate Winslet
“Revolutionary Road”



[Actor in a Supporting Role]

Josh Brolin
“Milk”

Russell Crowe
“Body of Lies”

Robert Downey, Jr.
“The Soloist”

Heath Ledger
“The Dark Knight”

Michael Sheen
“Frost/Nixon”



[Actress in a Supporting Role]

Amy Adams
“Doubt”

Kathy Bates
“Revolutionary Road”

Cate Blanchett
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

Catherine Keener
“The Soloist”

Carice van Houten
“Body of Lies”



[Writing, Adapted Screenplay]

“Body of Lies”

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

“Doubt”

“Frost/Nixon”

“Revolutionary Road”



[Writing, Original Screenplay]

“Changeling”

“Hamlet 2”

“Milk”

“The Soloist”

“WALL·E”



[Art Direction]

“Australia”

“Defiance”

“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom
of the Crystal Skull”

“Red Cliff”

“Revolutionary Road”



[Cinematography]

“Australia”

“The Dark Knight”

“Defiance”

“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom
of the Crystal Skull”

“Revolutionary Road”



[Costume Design]

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

“Doubt”

“The Other Boleyn Girl”

“Red Cliff”

“Revolutionary Road”



[Film Editing]

“Body of Lies”

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

“Defiance”

“Frost/Nixon”

“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom
of the Crystal Skull”



[Makeup]

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

“The Dark Knight”

“Red Cliff”



[Music, Original Score]

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom
of the Crystal Skull”

“The Soloist”

“Revolutionary Road”

“WALL·E”



[Music, Original Song]

coming soon



[Sound Editing]

“Defiance”

“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom
of the Crystal Skull”

“Iron Man”

“Speed Racer”

“WALL·E”



[Sound Mixing]

“Defiance”

“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom
of the Crystal Skull”

“Cloverfield”

“The Chronicles of Narnia:
Prince Caspian”

“WALL·E”



[Visual Effects]

“The Chronicles of Narnia:
Prince Caspian”

“The Incredible Hulk”

“Iron Man”



[Animated Feature Film]

“9”

“Kung Fu Panda”

“WALL·E”



[Foreign Language Film]

coming soon



[Documentary, Features]

coming soon



[Documentary, Short Subjects]

coming soon



[Short Film, Animated]

coming soon



[Short Film, Live Action]

coming soon