Chuck

Chuck Wepner is not my idea of a recommendable character but CHUCK, the film, manages to keep a steady, neutral position, and not make any judgments about his nature. It just shows Wepner as someone easily impressionable and immature, but who, in the ring, is determined to go the distance, come hell or Muhammad Ali.

Clearly, his marriage to Phyllis was an error and having a daughter even more so because Wepner was completely absorbed in his boxing exploits, his side jobs, his sexual conquests and, ultimately, his identification with the tragic role played by Anthony Quinn in REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT, to the point of knowing his lines off by heart and feeling that he shares something with that unfortunate soul; and his fascination with the film, ROCKY, and its central character and rising movie star Sylvester Stallone, to the point of celebrating that film's Best Picture and Best Director awards as if they were his own, and of almost making Balboa his alter ego, all reflect his scattered personality and weakness of purpose.

That fascination with a celluloid, larger than life, hero also causes him to jump the boundaries of safe life into the dangers of drug addiction. I find the film brutally honest about that and about his break-up with his wife, played with considerable aplomb and force by Elisabeth Moss, as someone who refuses to be duped by the fake world of boxing, movies, and other illusions entertained by Wepner.

The scene where Schreiber (Wepner) goes to his daughter's school and completely misses the plot, partly because he is under the influence of drugs, is a classic in its simplicity, truth, and quality of acting by all involved.

Wepner's honesty about his boxing limitations is a point in his favor, and one that allows the viewer to develop some sympathy for the man.

I also found the Wepner-Stallone relationship very effectively and succinctly observed. Clearly, in real life Stallone is not the good guy that Balboa was. Stallone did nothing to assist Wepner, with bail for instance, when he was tried and jailed for drug possession. And yet Stallone used Wepner as the source for his script of ROCKY, earning considerable fortune and fame as a result. The scene where Stallone is doing press ups in the jail facility where Wepner is an inmate, all to do with ROCKY III and Balboa's descent from grace and into jail, is also very effectively put across, with not a frame too many.

Wepner's friend, John Stahl, clearly was not a good influence, and did not mind riding his pal's wave of fame, womanizing, drug taking, and so forth, but never there when really needed, with any really helpful contribution. He comes across as a party parasite with a sense of humor, and reminds you of just how dangerous such friendships can be.

There are, however, characters who restore hope in mankind: Phyllis is a really good and caring wife, someone whose honesty and real love for Wepner allow her to see that their relationship cannot go on, and has the courage to break it off; Linda, Wepner's second wife, is more detached but has the right values. And Wepner earns our respect for seeing Stallone for what he is.

Best of all, Wepner's brother, Donny, who steps in to help his undeserving brother. He complains bitterly about Wepner's selfishness, but you wish everyone were as honest and caring, and this would be a far better world.

Falardeau's direction is assured and extremely competent. No fancy camera work, good use of boxing footage from the time, and he extracts credible and keenly felt performances from the entire cast. Schreiber is very good, Moss superlative, Watts in an unusually self-effacing role that serves her well -- but it is the actor (I do not know his name) who plays the small role of Donny, Wepner's brother, that really stays with me for the sheer honesty and naturalism of his acting.

Competent script, too, keeping as close to real life as possible. Unfortunately, the source material would never permit the kind of emotional uplift that could have rendered CHUCK a masterpiece in the restricted niche of sports-related movies - but it is definitely worth watching.

Liev Schreiber gives a great performance as Chuck Wepner. He actually makes Chuck look like a wayward but charming kid. 'The Bayonne Bleeder' so called because he easily got cut, managed to land a title shot with Muhammad Ali in 1975 as Ali wanted to fight a top white contender.

Wepner then found fame of sorts later as Sylvester Stallone supposedly based Rocky on Wepner. A nobody who lands a world title shot.

After the fight with Ali, Chuck's life spirals downwards with drugs, booze and partying. His wife (Elisabeth Moss) unhappy with his womanising finally has enough and leaves him. Chuck hits rock bottom when he is set up for a drug bust.

You get the feeling once the Ali fight is done with, the film is over. After that it really is Chuck acting stupid and immature. A story that applies to hundreds of boxers.

Director Philippe Falardeau gives this film a strong period setting, he also brings out good performances from the actors that includes Ron Perlman and Naomi Watts.

Sylvester Stallone has denied that his character of Rocky Balboa was inspired by heavyweight boxer Chuck Wepner, who fought professionally from 1964 to 1978. Well, let's just take a look at some of what happens in the "Rocky" movies, shall we? In the original "Rocky" (1976), an unknown white boxer was plucked from obscurity and given a shot at the heavyweight title by a flamboyant black champion. No one gave Chuck, er, I mean, no one gave "Rocky" much of a chance, but he trained hard (old-school) and greatly exceeded expectations during the fight. In "Rocky III" (1982), Rocky gets in the boxing ring for a match against a hulking professional wrestler and, at one point, the wrestler picks Rocky up and drops him to the ground outside the ropes. In "Rocky IV" (1985), Rocky watched James Brown sing from inside the ring before a match. In the career of what real life boxer did all those things happen? Chuck Wepner. Who wrote and starred in all six "Rocky" movies? Sylvester Stallone. It's no wonder that Wepner called himself "the real Rocky". Likewise, it's no wonder that the bio-pic dramedy "Chuck" (R, 1:38) was made to tell Wepner's story. I could say more about the details in common between the careers of Rocky and Chuck, but trying to avoid spoilers (in case you don't know Chuck's story), I'll just refer you to something Chuck says in the movie: "You don't know me. Well, you know me, but you don't know you know me." It's worth mentioning up front that this isn't the story of the making of "Rocky". "Chuck" is about Chuck. The release of "Rocky" changed Chuck's life, but he was the same person before, during and after his proverbial 15 minutes of fame. Chuck worked as a liquor distributor to pay the bills. He was a boxer because it was what he did best. He wasn't the quickest, strongest or most successful heavyweight of his day, but he could take a punch. In fact, he could take a whole lot of punches (a beating, really) and keep coming back for more. They called him the Bayonne Bleeder. He hated the name, but he loved the fame. Chuck enjoyed being recognized and treated special – especially by the ladies. Never mind that he had a devoted wife, Phyliss (Elisabeth Moss), and a loving daughter, Kimberly (Sadie Sink), back home… growing increasingly frustrated by the selfish and neglectful way that Chuck was treating them.

Chuck's life changed forever in 1975. After Muhammad Ali took the world heavyweight title from George Foreman in the fight known as "the Rumble in the Jungle", Ali said he wanted to fight "a white guy". Since Chuck was the only white guy among the top 10 ranked heavyweight boxers in the world, his manager (Ron Perlman) took care of the details and Chuck Wepner, little known outside of New Jersey, got a shot at the title. For this first time in his career, he trained full time for this fight which took place near Cleveland, OH. Chuck's performance against Ali (Pooch Hall) increased his celebrity greatly. Then he became even more famous the following year when the new movie "Rocky" seemed to mirror his life, especially regarding the Ali fight. As Chuck tried to take advantage of being the guy who inspired the 1976 Best Picture Oscar winner by reaching out to Sylvester Stallone himself, Chuck was also increasing his selfish behaviors, using cocaine and pursuing even more women, including a local bartender named Linda (Naomi Watts), who didn't want anything to do with him… a sentiment now shared by Phyliss.

"Chuck" is a very entertaining and long-overdue movie. Chuck Wepner's story is indeed the stuff of Hollywood – in the "Rocky" movies – and in this movie which reveals Chuck's story to be as interesting as Rocky's. This film had four writers whose combined efforts really do the story justice. They are Jeff Feuerzeig (known mainly for writing and directing documentaries… including "The Real Rocky" for ESPN), Jerry Stahl (mainly a TV show writer, he also wrote 2003's "Bad Boys II"), Michael Cristofer ("Original Sin", "Bonfire of the Vanities", "The Witches of Eastwick") and Live Schreiber, who, besides being the film's star and co-writer, also helped produce. The screenplay focuses on the drama, but has an effective and organic humor about it. In the hands of director Philippe Falardeau (who directed Reese Witherspoon's 2014 film "The Good Lie"), and in the practically perfect performance of Schreiber, this film portrays the most eventful decade of Chuck's life without judgment, showing his highs and his lows, and never loses sight of his humanity. Another quote from the movie sums it up nicely: "Sometimes life is like a movie. And sometimes it's better." This film is better than most. "A-"

Well here's the thing, the movie is good and interesting. Started out very well, with a great vibe just like most things. It has a lesson to teach about life's ups and downs. It's funny and doesn't get too boring to watch. The way they combined the story of the real guy and the acting was wonderful that you find it hard to believe that is was acting and not real. Very nice movie, but just one problem for me is the lead character, he's kind of conflicted. He appears as a reticent guy but very talkative.

This is a really good film. It's based on the true story that inspired Sylvester Stallone's Rocky movie. It has everything you want, every single actor is perfect in every way. I didn't know who was in it when I started watching and the well known actors revealed along the way sometimes took a minute or two before you knew who they were. Every single frame of this was well done. Highly recommended for folks who like paced movies about extraordinary 'normal' people. Lots of reunioning big and small screen actors came together to make this.