Chuck: Movie Review

For those of you who have never heard of heavyweight boxer Chuck Wepner, he fought Muhammad Ali in 1975.  However, there is one other detail about the New Jersey fighter that is even more notable. Wepner’s story inspired Sylvester Stallone to write “Rocky”.  Although I have never been much of a boxing fan, I will say that I love the “Rocky” movies. Needless-to-say, I was all for seeing a biopic about the man that inspired the Italian Stallion.

Much like last year’s “Bleed for This”. Philippe Falardeau’s “Chuck” is a very a mediocre biopic about a struggling fighter. Both films feature strong performances, but the end results are quite underwhelming.  Liev Schreiber is great here in the title role. Elisabeth Moss and Naomi Watts are also very good as the two women in his life.  Plus, adding Ron Perlman to almost anything makes things just a bit better.  Although I can’t say that I found “Chuck” inspired, I will say that fans of boxing films or fans of Schreiber, make want to check this one out anyways.

By: Marc Ferman