Film

We’re getting a little tired of disclaimers like “Inspired by a true story,” especially when the movies that follow tend to fall so neatly into genre formulas. You have to hand it to the makers of Resurrecting the Champ; they defy that easy pigeonholing by merging several “true story” plot lines. That doesn’t make Resurrecting good exactly, but it wins points for being different.

Erik (Hartnett) is an eager young sports reporter who lies about anything and everything to get what he wants (never considered a good trait for a journalist…). When an editor puts him on the spot for an article, he pitches the story of a homeless man who claims to be a famous former boxer (Jackson). The trouble is, he only met the guy briefly, and now he has to persuade “Champ” to tell his tale. Champ’s story unfolds in flashback, counterpointing Erik’s use of that biography for his own purposes. The movie has a twist in the middle that most screenwriters would have used as an ending; still, it has a pretty interesting second act.

Hartnett has always been a bit of a blank onscreen, but his medium-wattage charisma and soulless good looks actually work: Erik should be a bit of a cipher. Jackson, by contrast, practically throws his performance in your face. He’s all twitches and shuffling and raspy-voiced, overly inflected line readings. It’s a risky performance that in some scenes looks brilliant and in others looks like ridiculous hammery. The film as a whole is like that; some moments work, others don’t and life lessons are learned from a homeless man. True story.