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Rob Edelman: Big Screen Boxing Biopics

Recently, a spate of biopics about boxers have punched their way onto movie screens. Two were released last year. In BLEED FOR THIS, Miles Teller proves he is a multifaceted actor, playing Vinny Pazienza, an obsessive, loudmouthed pugilist who sustains a broken neck in a car accident but still eventually continues his career in the ring. HANDS OF STONE features Edgar Ramirez, another fine actor who is not as well-known among the masses as he deserves. Here, Ramirez plays cocky, hotheaded Roberto Duran, with Robert De Niro cast as his coach and mentor, Ray Arcel. De Niro, of course, starred as Jake LaMotta in RAGING BULL once upon a time. Deservedly, RAGING BULL remains atop many critics’ lists as the top film of the 1980s.

The most recent boxing biopic is CHUCK. Here, Liev Schreiber plays Chuck Wepner, also known as the Bayonne Bleeder, who was the inspiration for Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa character in ROCKY. In CHUCK, Wepner is shown to be a local celebrity, the heavyweight champ of New Jersey. But New Jersey is not the world, and all this changes when promoter Don King determines that Muhammad Ali should fight a “white guy”-- and Chuck Wepner becomes that “white guy,” just as Rocky Balboa enters the ring against Apollo Creed in ROCKY. CHUCK, meanwhile, charts the less-than-happy plight and fate of Chuck Wepner, and how he is impacted by his ten seconds of fame.

Quite a few of these new boxing films reference their predecessors, and this transcends the casting of Robert De Niro in HANDS OF STONE. For one thing, in CHUCK, Wepner’s favorite boxing film is REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT, which dates from 1962. REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT features Anthony Quinn as Mountain Rivera, a dazed and confused has-been. Wepner is fascinated by the film and has memorized Rivera’s dialogue, which he repeats verbatim, but he is oblivious to the fact that he is much more like Mountain Rivera than Rocky Balboa. 

Now of course, the original ROCKY went on to win Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Film Editing, and CHUCK includes a snippet of director John G. Avildsen’s acceptance speech, in which he declares that ROCKY is the kind of film that gives people “hope.” The irony here is that there is no real hope for Chuck Wepner.

Beyond their boxing themes, BLEED FOR THIS, HANDS OF STONE, and CHUCK tell the stories of individuals who are to varying degrees self-absorbed losers who become winners, both in an out of the ring. Each is deeply flawed, and each pays a steep price for his out-of-control ego. BLEED FOR THIS, HANDS OF STONE, and CHUCK all are at best adequate films. They will entertain those who favor boxing stories but in no way will they rank among the all-time-great sports films. 

Among the most recent boxing films, the best of the lot is not a biopic. In CREED, which was released in 2015, an aging Rocky Balboa, also played by Sylvester Stallone, trains and mentors Adonis Johnson, the son of Apollo Creed. But even CREED, despite its attributes, cannot compare to the best-ever boxing films. Such a list only begins with BODY AND SOUL, starring John Garfield and released in 1947, which is a personal favorite; CHAMPION and THE SET-UP, both from 1949, with Kirk Douglas and Robert Ryan; THE HARDER THEY FALL, from 1956, which is Humphrey Bogart’s cinematic swansong; and MILLION DOLLAR BABY, from 2004, with Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, and Hilary Swank. And of course, there is ROCKY. And in particular, there is RAGING BULL...

Rob Edelman has authored or edited several dozen books on film, television, and baseball. He has taught film history courses at several universities and his writing has appeared in many newspapers, magazines, and journals. His frequent collaborator is his wife, fellow WAMC film commentator Audrey Kupferberg.

The views expressed by commentators are solely those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of this station or its management.

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