Parents' Guide to

Resurrecting the Champ

By Cynthia Fuchs, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 14+

Reporter's ethics get KO'd in bland boxing tale.

Movie PG-13 2007 111 minutes
Resurrecting the Champ Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

See all

There aren't any parent reviews yet. Be the first to review this title.

What's the Story?

In RESURRECTING THE CHAMP, Erik (Josh Hartnett) -- a staff writer for the Denver Times -- wants to be a sports reporter. But he lives in the long shadow of his father, a much-admired and now-dead sports journalist. He's convinced that others don't see his talent: His estranged wife Joyce (Kathryn Morris) is a successful columnist at the paper, and his editor, Metz (Alan Alda), tells him that his copy is unimpressive ("a lot of typing but not much writing"). Moreover, his young son, Teddy (Dakota Goya), hopes that someday his daddy will introduce him to his famous friends, like Shaq or John Elway (who appears as himself, briefly). Unfortunately, Erik has stretched that truth a bit: He doesn't actually know the former Broncos quarterback. Erik sees a chance to make it all work out when he meets the Champ (Samuel L. Jackson), a beaten-down former boxer who's now living on the street and regularly getting beaten up by local kids. Erik buys him a beer and proposes to tell the Champ's story for the Times magazine.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

The film addresses interesting issues, but Resurrecting the Champ tends to reduce complex answers to simple-seeming melodrama. (It doesn't help that Hartnett isn't a terribly convincing performer.) Erik is in a gnarly business, where stories and truth aren't always different: "The one thing people don't want is the truth," explains Metz by way of a lecture. Because truth is too ambiguous, they want heroic tales or tragedies, moral lessons and judgments. The problem is, this movie uses the Champ's complications to get at Erik's simplicity.

"A writer, like a boxer," Erik says early on, "must stand alone. Having your work published, like fighting in a ring, puts your talent on display ... Sometimes the results can be disastrous." This not only sets up a disaster in the plot but also establishes Erik's notion that he has talent -- at least temporarily. These themes will be familiar to viewers of writer-director Rod Lurie's other films, like The Contender, which was set in the world of Washington, D.C. politics.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the ethical compromises Erik makes in order to pursue his ambitions. How often do you think that happens in the world of media and journalism? Are journalists always objective, or do they have their own agendas? What's their responsibility to their audience? How much of what you see and read in the media can you believe? Families can also discuss the movie's father-son relationships. Is Erik trying too hard to live up to his father's reputation? How do his lies complicate his own relationship with little Teddy?

Movie Details

Inclusion information powered by

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

See all recommended movie lists

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate