The "Chuck" in the title is Chuck Wepner, a boxer who attained fame in the 1970's, but not because he became a champion. In the early 70's, he was one of those fighters a couple of notches below the big-name heavyweights of the era, like Ali, Foreman, Frazier, and Liston. Wepner, who hailed from Bayonne, New Jersey, was nicknamed the Bayonne Bleeder. It's not hard to figure out why. After fighting Liston, he needed an astonishing 75 stitches to his ground-up face. What made him beloved, other than his being white, was that he could take a beating without getting knocked out.
Phillippe Falardeau's "Chuck" is a biopic that fleshes out the career of Wepner, and almost as importantly fills us in as to what was going on outside of the ring during and after his career. Falardeau does a good job, even if he goes a little overboard in making the film appear so 70's, by making it look like it's a 40-year-old print. It's the opposite of crisp, in appearance.
Liev Schreiber plays Chuck and it's a new type of role for him. He's usually cast as a tough and stoic type, like his starring role as "Ray Donovan" on Showtime. He's certainly tough here, but we get to see more vulnerability from him, and even a sense of humor. Chuck is married to Phyliss (Elisabeth Moss) and they have a young daughter. Chuck is a serial cheater, but Phyllis always takes him back after he apologizes and reads her his (very poor) poems.
Everything changes for Chuck when, almost inexplicably, he lands a championship fight against the great Muhammed Ali. The leadup to the fight turns Chuck into a national folk hero. Almost no one thinks he can win, but while Chuck would love to beat him, his main desire is to last 15 rounds with Ali. It's a fun fight to watch, even though it doesn't have the feel of boxing reality like "Raging Bull."
What the fight does have, though, is an inspirational message of a David versus Goliath. That message served as the inspiration for Sylvester Stallone's "Rocky," which became one of the most popular films of all time. Riding his newfound fame changes Chuck's life and not for the better. His marriage falls apart and he becomes a cocaine addict. It's all one big, sad party, except for Linda (Naomi Watts), a beautiful bartender who comes and goes in Chuck's life.
"Chuck" isn't edge-of-your-seat drama, although it has a few moments like that. It's a light and good-hearted view of Wepner's career and personal life. Even when things are bad on paper, you never get very upset. You just assume that everything will somehow work out. The lightness is appropriate here and Falardeau's touch ends up working. It's just good, clean fun, even with the cheating, the drugs... and the buckets of blood.
| Movie title | Chuck |
|---|---|
| Release year | 2016 |
| MPAA Rating | R |
| Our rating | |
| Summary | Liev Schreiber stars as Chuck Wepner, the Bayonne Bleeder, who inspired Sly Stallone to make another little movie about a boxer. |
