''Resurrecting the Champ'' is a 2007 American
sports
Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...
drama
Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...
film directed by
Rod Lurie and written by Michael Bortman and
Allison Burnett, based on a ''
Los Angeles Times Magazine'' article entitled "Resurrecting the Champ" by
J. R. Moehringer. The film centers on a fictionalized former athlete portrayed by
Samuel L. Jackson, living on the streets of Denver, who attempts to impersonate the life and career of former professional heavyweight boxer
Bob Satterfield. The ensemble cast also features
Josh Hartnett
Joshua Daniel Hartnett (born July 21, 1978) is an American actor. He began his career on American Broadcasting Company, ABC's drama series ''Cracker (American TV series), Cracker'' (1997–1998), after which he became known as a teen idol thro ...
,
Alan Alda
Alan Alda (; born Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo; January 28, 1936) is an American actor. A six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner and a three-time Tony Award nominee, he is best known for playing Captain Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pier ...
,
David Paymer, and
Teri Hatcher
Teri Lynn Hatcher (born December 8, 1964) is an American actress best known for her portrayals of Lois Lane on the television series ''Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'' (1993–1997). She also played Paris Carver in the ''Production ...
.
The film was a
co-production between the motion picture studios of
Phoenix Pictures, Alberta Film Entertainment, Battleplan Productions, and the
Yari Film Group. Theatrically, it was commercially distributed by the Yari Film Group, while in the home video rental market it was distributed by
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
20th Century Home Entertainment (previously known as Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, LLC. and also known as 20th Century Studios Home Entertainment) was a home video distribution arm that distributes films produced by 20th Century Stud ...
. ''Resurrecting the Champ'' explores professional ethics, journalism and athletics.
[ Rod Lurie. (2007). ''Resurrecting the Champ'' otion pictureProduction Notes. United States: Yari Film Group.] On September 25, 2007, the original motion picture soundtrack was released by the
Rykodisc
Rykodisc is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, operating as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance.
History
Claiming to be the first CD-only independent record label ...
record label. The film score was composed and orchestrated by musicians
Larry Groupé and Blake Hazard. Indie Rock band
The Submarines
The Submarines are an American indie rock band from Los Angeles formed in 2006.
Band history
Working as solo artists in Boston, the two members of the band, John Dragonetti and Blake Hazard, were introduced through a mutual friend, Joe Klompus ...
also contributed a musical track to the score. In 2008, the film was nominated for an
ESPY Award for Best Sports Movie as well as a
Young Artist Award in the category of Best Performance in a Feature Film, Young Actor Age Ten or Younger.
''Resurrecting the Champ'' premiered in theaters nationwide in the United States on August 24, 2007 grossing $3,172,573 in domestic ticket receipts. The film took in an additional $69,854 in business through international release for a combined worldwide total of $3,242,427. Preceding its initial screening in cinemas, the film was generally met with positive critical reviews. With its initial foray into the home video marketplace; the widescreen DVD edition of the film featuring theatrical trailers, cast and crew interviews, and commentary with director Lurie among other highlights, was released in the United States on April 8, 2008.
Plot
Erik Kernan Jr. is a young fledgling journalist employed by ''The Denver Times''. Frustrated, Kernan struggles with his supervising editor Ralph Metz concerning rudimentary coverage of his articles related to professional sports. Metz views Kernan's editorial work as bland and uninspiring, considering that his recently deceased father was a famous sportscaster. Kernan is separated from his wife, Joyce, who also works at the newspaper, and worries that he might be losing touch with their young son, Teddy.
In an alley near the
Denver Coliseum, three rowdy young men taunt an elderly homeless man, who calls himself "Champ" and claims to have been a professional boxer. As the men begin to assault him, Kernan, leaving a boxing match he was covering at the venue, comes to his aid. Kernan eventually learns that Champ was once a famous former heavyweight boxing contender,
Bob Satterfield.

During an interview with a magazine publisher named Whitley, Kernan informs him that he has an influential story about Satterfield. At the same time, Champ is reluctant to cooperate with any biographical piece, claiming the memories are too painful for him. To gain Champ's confidence for the chronicle, Kernan recruits an associate at the newspaper, Polly, to assist him in retrieving information about his past. He also sincerely tries to help Champ reconcile with his son and ex-wife, seeing his possible future reflected in that family, one which he’s desperate to avoid.
The magazine ultimately publishes Kernan's article. It wins acclaim from readers and journalists alike. The story even draws the attention of a TV personality from
Showtime, Flak, who boldly suggests it should be nominated for a
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...
. But the intense publicity brings Kernan into contact with elderly folk who knew Satterfield personally, and are adamant that he's deceased. Kernan later learns that Champ is a lesser known boxing contender, Tommy Kincaid, whom Satterfield once defeated in the ring. He makes a conscious choice and decides to inform his editors about the profile error. However, before he can do so, he learns that he and the newspaper are being sued by Satterfield's son, Robert. Satterfield Jr. is angered, since it had been long known to a number of people that Champ had a lengthy history of impersonating his father. Metz derides Kernan for not having done due diligence in examining Champ's authenticity regarding his past. It is also discovered that Champ’s real son joined a gang when he discovered his father’s real identity and was devastatingly disappointed, and was killed in a street fight, leading to Champ’s marriage failing and him ending up homeless for 20 years, due to his ex-wife being unable to forgive him, and Champ being unable to forgive himself.
Satterfield Jr. is later appeased with a proposal by Kernan to write another article retracting his mistake, and to include personal journalistic material about the elder Satterfield which he long wanted someone to articulate. Meanwhile, Champ finally gets his chance against real former heavyweight champion boxer—and former opponent of both Satterfield and Kincaid—Rocky Marciano, who taunts him into a fight, a “sparring match” for their “comeback”. During the fight, an injury to his head causes Champ to see Marciano in his prime again when they last fought, and he gets scared. Even though he insists he’s done impersonating Satterfield, Marciano insists on finishing the fight, not liking that even in their old age, he’s still getting shown up by his old sparring partner (Kincaid incidentally had broken Marciano’s nose back in the day, which led to Marciano having nosebleed problems since), and it escalates from a sparring match into a grudge match. Champ wins the fight, proclaiming victory under his real name and title, but tragically suffers a heart attack and dies alone in the streets. He’s given a proper Christian burial; understandably it’s a small attendance, but it’s filled with people who genuinely cared for him (including his ex-wife Betty). As Kernan does his best to honor Champ’s memory in his subsequent article, considering him a friend despite the lie he told (which he did only so that his son would be proud of him, another reflection of Kernan’s own behavior), Kernan is also gratified to know that Teddy will be proud of his father, even if he does not know the famous people he once claimed to know. He decides to continue his job as a journalist, he and Joyce reconcile, they have another son together, and Teddy begins teaching his little brother what Champ taught him.
Cast

*
Samuel L. Jackson as "Champ"/"Bob Satterfield"/Tommy Kincaid
*
Josh Hartnett
Joshua Daniel Hartnett (born July 21, 1978) is an American actor. He began his career on American Broadcasting Company, ABC's drama series ''Cracker (American TV series), Cracker'' (1997–1998), after which he became known as a teen idol thro ...
as Erik Kernan Jr.
*
Kathryn Morris as Joyce Kernan
*
Dakota Goyo as Teddy Kernan
*
Alan Alda
Alan Alda (; born Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo; January 28, 1936) is an American actor. A six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner and a three-time Tony Award nominee, he is best known for playing Captain Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pier ...
as Ralph Metz
*
Rachel Nichols as Polly
*
David Paymer as Whitely
*
Teri Hatcher
Teri Lynn Hatcher (born December 8, 1964) is an American actress best known for her portrayals of Lois Lane on the television series ''Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'' (1993–1997). She also played Paris Carver in the ''Production ...
as Andrea Flak
* Kristen Shaw as Perlmutter
*
Nick Sandow as Marciano
*
Harry J. Lennix as Bob Satterfield Jr.
Production
Filming
For logistical and monetary reasons, director Lurie chose to film primarily in
Calgary, Alberta
Calgary () is a major city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a Metropolitan area, metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the List of ...
.
Critical exterior shots were also filmed in
Denver, Colorado
Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
, where the story itself is based. For some scenes, production filmed at a real homeless shelter called ''The Mustard Seed'', as around forty of the shelter's residents and guests were hired to stand in as film extras.
Additional boxing flashbacks were filmed at the Corral Arena at the Calgary Stampede Grounds.
Music
The original motion picture soundtrack for ''Resurrecting the Champ'', was released by the
Rykodisc
Rykodisc is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, operating as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance.
History
Claiming to be the first CD-only independent record label ...
music label on September 25, 2007. The film score was composed and orchestrated by a number of musicians including,
Larry Groupé, Blake Hazard, and Neville Ivey.
Release
Home media
The film was released on
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
on April 8, 2008.
Reception
Critical response
Among mainstream critics in the U.S., the film received generally mixed to positive reviews.
[Resurrecting the Champ](_blank)
Metacritic
Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
. CNET Networks. Retrieved 2013-01-14. Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
reported that 61% of 116 sampled critics gave the film a positive review, with an average score of 6.1 out of 10.
[Resurrecting the Champ (2007)](_blank)
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
. IGN Entertainment. Retrieved 2025-06-10. At
Metacritic
Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, which assigns a
weighted average out of 100 to critics' reviews, ''Resurrecting the Champ'' received a score of 55 based on 28 reviews.
The film was nominated for an
ESPY Award in the category of Best Sports Movie in 2008. It also received a nomination for a
Young Artist Award for actor Dakota Goyo in the category of Best Performance in a Feature Film — Young Actor Age Ten or Younger.
Mick LaSalle, writing in the ''
San Francisco Chronicle
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...
'', channeled with a mild upbeat sentiment affirming, "The fun of watching Jackson is watching him think, but here he's playing a man whose mind is half gone. Jackson conveys that as well as one could hope, but he's boxing with one hand and four fingers tied behind his back." Left a bit impressed, J.R. Jones writing in the ''
Chicago Reader
The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. The ''Reader'' has been ...
'', surmised how actor Hartnett "really connects with the role of a dull-witted but grandly ambitious ''
Denver Post
''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in the Denver metropolitan area. it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 mil ...
'' reporter who hits on a great story when he crosses paths with a foggy homeless man (Samuel L. Jackson) who claims he's fearsome heavyweight boxer." In a mixed to positive review, Carrie Rickey of ''
The Philadelphia Inquirer
''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...
'', relayed that motion picture "has morals that
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...
and
Jake LaMotta both could love. It suggests that true success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm. And it implies that the most decisive bouts are those that take place outside the ring."
[Rickey, Carrie (24 August 2007)]
A good little scrapper, but not a title contender
''The Philadelphia Inquirer
''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...
''. Retrieved 2013-01-15. Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden (born July 18, 1941) is an American writer, poet, and music and film critic.
Biography
Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963. He worked as a photo editor, staff writer, and eventually be ...
of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', emphatically expressed that the film "captures the hard-boiled tone of a big-city newsroom almost perfectly." He asserted that the film was a "cautionary fable that every journalistic go-getter dreaming of front-page bylines would do well to heed."
The film however, was not without its detractors. Writing for ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'', film critic
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Lisa Schwarzbaum (born July 5, 1952) is an American film critic. She joined ''Entertainment Weekly'' as a senior writer in 1991, working as a film critic for the magazine alongside Owen Gleiberman from 1995 to 2013.
Early life
Lisa Schwarzbaum w ...
viewed the filmmakers as not content enough "to make this a story of two imperfect men. Instead, speechy monologues on the responsibilities of journalism, the particular evil of infotainment (represented by Teri Hatcher as a she-devil from Showtime), and the gooey sanctity of the bond between fathers and sons all but nullify Jackson's zesty performance." In similar fashion, columnist Joanne Kaufman writing for ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
'' emphasized, "Samuel L. Jackson is a knock-out as a broken-down, boozed-up former boxer in the fact-based '' 'Resurrecting the Champ.' '' The movie itself — which deals (not very interestingly) with the issue of journalistic integrity and (very predictably) with father-son relationships — doesn't pack much of a wallop."
[Kaufman, Joanne (24 August 2007)]
Jackson's a Hit, But 'Champ' Has a Glass Chin
''The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
''. Retrieved 2013-01-15. In the ''
Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...
'', noted film critic
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
voiced his enthusiasm with the picture observing, "There are developments in this movie that I don't want to hint at, especially since they surprised me, and you should have the same pleasure. They call into question, let us say, people's motives for doing things, and what happens when two people have the misfortune to find that their motives are a good fit."
[Ebert, Roger (24 August 2007)]
Resurrecting the Champ
''Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...
''. Retrieved 2013-01-15. Columnist Marjorie Baumgarten of ''
The Austin Chronicle
''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogra ...
'' professed that the film was "a sentimental drama about fathers and sons and the emotional distances between them. Though most of these narrative facets provide interesting fodder, none are satisfactorily developed creating a hodgepodge effect. Were it not for the solid cast performances, and in particular the showy Jackson performance as the Champ of the title, the visually bland movie would warrant little attention."
For the most part, satisfied with the quality of the motion picture,
Wesley Morris of ''
The Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...
'' said that "If most boxing movies are about redemption, '' 'Resurrecting the Champ' '' is a boxing movie that goes to exasperating lengths to redeem its boxing writer." He declared the film to be a "one-sided Hollywood claptrap about honesty and valor". John Anderson writing in ''
Variety'' took a neutral position exclaiming, "Although helmer Rod Lurie circles a lot of thorny issues in this morality tale of a middleweight contender-turned-homeless vagrant and the reporter who rescues him from obscurity, the plan of attack is overly sentimentalized and the execution is slack. If not for Samuel L. Jackson's performance as the ravaged boxer, 'Champ' would be of limited interest." Critic Jeff Vice of the ''
Deseret News
The ''Deseret News'' () is a multi-platform newspaper based in Salt Lake City, published by Deseret News Publishing Company, a subsidiary of Deseret Management Corporation, which is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS ...
'' accounted for the fact that the film wasn't "quite a knockout." He stated, "if this sports drama was a pugilistic bout, it would have to go to the scorecards just to get a favorable decision." But in summary he concluded, "Director Rod Lurie and screenwriters Michael Bortman and Allison Burnett based this tale on a true story, and parts of it do ring true. The explorations of the strained father-son dynamic and a message about redemption are well-done."
Box office
''Resurrecting the Champ''
premiered in cinemas on August 24, 2007 in
wide release
In the motion picture industry, a wide release (short for nationwide release) is a film playing at the same time at cinemas in most markets across a country. This is in contrast to the formerly common practice of a roadshow theatrical release in ...
throughout the United States.
[ During that weekend, the film opened in 15th place grossing $1,667,659 in business showing at 1,605 locations.][ The film '' Superbad'' opened in 1st place during that weekend with $18,044,369 in revenue. The film's revenue dropped by 66% in its second week of release, earning $554,616. For that particular weekend, the film fell to 25th place with a lower opening theater count at 1,295 cinemas. The slasher horror film ]Halloween
Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...
unseated ''Superbad'' to open in 1st place with $26,362,367 in box office business. During its final week in release, ''Resurrecting the Champ'' opened in a dismal 111th place grossing a marginal $1,897 in revenue. For that weekend period, '' The Game Plan'' starring Dwayne Johnson
Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on a part-time basis. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional w ...
opened in 1st place with $22,950,971 in box office receipts. ''Resurrecting the Champ'' went on to top out domestically at $3,172,573 in total ticket sales through an initial 6-week theatrical run.[ For 2007 as a whole, the film would cumulatively rank at a box office performance position of 201.2007 DOMESTIC GROSSES]
Box Office Mojo
Box Office Mojo is an American website that tracks box-office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. The site was founded in 1998 by Brandon Gray, and was bought in 2008 by IMDb, which itself is owned by Amazon.
History
Brandon Gray ...
. Retrieved 2013-01-14.
See also
* List of boxing films
This is a list of films about boxing featuring notable sports films where boxing plays a central role in the development of the plot.
__TOC__
List
See also
* List of sports films
* List of highest-grossing sports films
References
{{Spo ...
* Bob Satterfield
References
;Footnotes
;Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Resurrecting The Champ
2007 films
2007 biographical drama films
2000s English-language films
2000s sports drama films
American boxing films
American sports drama films
Biographical films about sportspeople
Cultural depictions of boxers
Films about homelessness
Films about journalism
Films about race and ethnicity
Films based on newspaper and magazine articles
Films directed by Rod Lurie
Films scored by Larry Groupé
Films set in Denver
Films shot in Calgary
Phoenix Pictures films
Sports drama films based on actual events
2000s American films
Films produced by Mike Medavoy
English-language biographical drama films
English-language sports drama films