Good start, but then it gets ruined

Charming and brutal

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

"The Champ" is the most disgraceful sort of manipulative melodrama. A pointless remake of a has-been 1931 film of the same name, this one pummels its audience--employing filmic techniques developed since the original--in its comeback to try to inflict even more tears than its saccharine predecessor.The 1931 version is bad, but at least the camerawork allowed some distance for the actors to develop a decent father-son bond on screen before the hokey histrionics are punched up. Not so here--zoom-ins, especially on the kid and mother, and a greater emphasis on close-ups force the audience to see every tear in the characters' eyes and, the filmmakers' hope seems to be, likewise force the waterworks out of viewers, as well. To today's eyes, at least, even the look and any deterioration of the 1970s film stock has the appearance of being filmed through a teary lens. Moreover, there are a greater series of crying scenes in the remake before the finale compared to the original. Early talkies, such as the 1931 "The Champ," also didn't feature non-diegetic musical scores. This 1979 remake, however, adds one, which rarely allows a moment without informing us what we're supposed to feel. This manipulative music was nominated for an Oscar. It's bad enough that there was never anything intelligent or particularly interesting from Frances Marion's script, another inexplicable Oscar honoree, but the remake doesn't even allow for any genuine emotional involvement. Every time I felt the film's machinations working, it inevitably left me feeling betrayed and abandoned, like T.J. ultimately is at some point by both parents.Padding is added to the narrative, compared to the original, to allow for the heightened sentimental shenanigans. The original also had an injury at the horse track that foreshadows the film's finale, but this one adds more clutter there. I don't get the Old Tom Parr reference, either. Given the ending, is that supposed to be ironic? There are also two swimming scenes with T.J. and another pointless scene where we watch the father watching children playing on a beach (c'mon, we already know he likes kids). With star Faye Dunaway in the role, the part of the mother is expanded, too. It's over an hour and a half before the Champ begins training for his comeback--a length longer than the entire 1931 film.In the wake of "Rocky" (1976), the boxing scene in the 1979 "The Champ" is certainly better than that in the 1931 version, which might be the most laughably-pathetic boxing contest ever filmed, and there's a brief Rocky-esque training montage. Wallace Berry, another undeserving Oscar winner, was literally unfit for the role of a former heavyweight champion. At least, Jon Voight was in better physical shape, and he doesn't ludicrously lunge forward, throwing haymakers each round. Jack Warden, who played a similar role in the prior year's "Heaven Can Wait," another pointless sports-related remake, is brought in as the Champ's trainer, although he's introduced rather late in the feature--seemingly relying on his credibility from the prior film instead of developing his character here.Part of the surge in boxing films piggybacking on the success of "Rocky," "The Champ" also seems to somewhat anticipate the anti-Feminist message of "Kramer vs. Kramer," released later in 1979, by focusing on a father-son relationship under threat from the re-emergence of the mother who abandoned them. Yet, it's shallow on both accounts, boxing and child custody. Emotional manipulation is the contest of concern here. Hopefully, you come out unscathed.

After just recently viewing this 1979 film "The Champ", it has a little bit in common with three more contemporary films:-Million Dollar Baby (for the gritty, real-world perspective that director Franco Zeffirelli brings to the movie)-Rocky (for the underdog story)-Over The Top (for the father/son relationship and custody battle)For a basic plot summary, "The Champ" tells the story of Billy (Jon Voight) and his son TJ (Ricky Schroder). Though Billy is adored by the best son a father could ever want in TJ, Billy is also a compulsive gambler and drinker, thus not being able to provide the best environment for the young boy. When the boy's mother (Faye Dunaway) comes back into the picture, Billy (once a professional boxer) decides to step back into the ring again to try and make a few more big paydays to take care of his beloved boy.There are a few things that this film doesn't quite nail, but they are so far overshadowed by what it does right:-The acting is terrific. Schroder turns in perhaps the greatest child-star performance of all-time, while Voight and Dunaway also turn in dramatic and emotional roles.-The direction of Zeffirelli is, much like a modern-day Clint Eastwood, very realistic and down- to-earth. Much like life, there are shades of grey thrown into every decision the main characters do or do not make. It isn't just a wild soap opera with easily distinguished bad guys and heroes.-This film also pulls at the male heartstrings (yes, they do exist!) like almost no other. The themes of the father/son relationship and Billy's enduring struggle with gambling/alcohol, all eventually summed up in a sporting-atmosphere that men can relate to, create a perfect storm of male emotion that is difficult to not get overwhelmed by. If you don't shed a tear when the credits roll, you'll have to question whether you are alive at all.Overall, this is one of the better dramas you will ever watch. The overall screenplay could have been a bit tighter, but the emotional scenes more than make up for those shortcomings. Make sure to watch with the Kleenex box by the couch. As clichéd as that seems, for this film it's just the truth.

The Champ (1979)** (out of 4)Remake of the 1931 film that got star Wallace Beery his Oscar. This time it's Jon Voight playing the washed up boxer taking care of his young son (Ricky Schroder) who decides to try and make a comeback so that he can do something good for the kid. Along the way he gets involved with his ex-wife (Faye Dunaway) who left him and the kid years earlier and he also can't escape his destructive nature. The original version of this story was quite good and of course it contained the now famous ending, which is pretty much kept here. Look, there's no question that the final five-minutes here are incredibly powerful but they still can't make up for the previous 116-minutes that are pretty manipulative and flat. There are all sorts of problems with THE CHAMP and while it's certainly not a bad movie it just doesn't have what it takes to overcome all the flaws. One major flaw is the screenplay. You can give the producers credit for not delivering a scene-for-scene remake but the new stuff they added simply doesn't work. This includes all the time spent with the horses as well as the relationship between Voight and Dunaway that constantly builds up. I really didn't care for their early conflicts and I certainly didn't care for the directions their relationship goes through towards the end. It's almost as if the filmmakers threw in a bit of KRAMER VS. KRAMER (which was released the same year) to try and sell a romance side. Another thing that doesn't work is some of the casting. Voight is one of my favorite actors and he delivers a good performance here but I think he was miscast. I think he's simply too smart and this comes across so the destructive nature of this character just doesn't suit him. I also thought Dunaway was good in her part but it probably should have gone to someone else. Schroder, on the other hand, clearly steals the film with his touching performance and he's certainly a knockout at the end. We get some terrific character actors in supporting roles including Jack Warden, Strother Martin, Arthur Hiller and Elisha Cook. Joan Blondell, in one of her final films, has a small part as well. Again, the ending is what this movie is known for and it's a great one. It's just too bad the rest of the film didn't live up to it and the countless manipulation scenes early on just don't work and they certainly miss the emotional connection that they try for.

Critics (and some viewers) have been lobbing grenades at this four-hankie tear-jerker since the day it was released, accusing it of extreme sentimentality and mawkishness. Nonetheless, for a great many others, it remains a beautiful, touching and memorable version of the 1931 original. Voight is the title character, a former light heavyweight champ who, thanks to taking a few too many hits in his last bout, has retired from the ring and now works as a horse walker at Hialeah. His young son Schroeder idolizes him, despite the fact that Voight has a tendency to drink too much and gambles away any little nest egg that they have been able to tuck away. One day, Voight hits it big and is able to buy Schroeder his own race horse. Schroeder takes on a wealthy fellow owner (Blondell) and attracts the attention of her friend Dunaway. When Dunaway befriends Schroeder and bets on his horse, it sets off a chain reaction of events that lead to a lot of emotional upheaval and tragedy for all involved. Eventually, Voight messes up to the extent that his only way out of his financial rut is to re-enter the ring and fight again. Schroeder is ecstatic that his father is back to being "The Champ" until he sees the damage that boxing can do to a man who is already injured and past his prime. Voight, who had only two weeks to prep for his role, does an admirable job throughout, with only a few overstated moments that verge on the hammy side. He develops a wondrous camaraderie with newcomer Schroeder and they make an excellent team on screen. Schroeder provides one of the most remarkable child actor debuts ever here. He more than holds his own with his Oscar-winning co-stars and forges an unforgettable performance that is filled to the brim with emotion and charm. Dunaway doesn't fare as well. Burdened with some truly ugly Theoni V. Aldredge (her preferred costume designer of the time) clothing and headgear, she is swallowed up by her preposterous get-ups when she isn't overindicating the conflicted feelings of her character. She is also lit many times in such a way that it almost becomes comical. Her line delivery leans toward the heavily affected and she often seems beamed in from another film altogether as she wafts around in her own rarefied atmosphere and carefully constructed aura. What should have been a stirring, climactic scene between Voight and her in the stable instead loses steam because the camera lingers on her nearly immobile visage and it looks like a period piece because of her ridiculous scarf. Some very talented character actors pop up in (often underutilized) roles including Catlett, Cook, Warden, Hill (as Dunaway's caring husband) and the aforementioned Blondell. Director Zefferelli was an opera aficionado and it sometimes shows in the overstated emotions on display. Even so, the lush cinematography, the beautiful music and the committed acting of Voight and Schroeder manage to pull the viewer in and tug at the heartstrings. They have several heart-breaking scenes together that place this film on the lists of many filmgoers favorite weepies. Schroeder, who claims to have always had a deep emotional well within himself, drew upon the recent death of his grandmother in his scenes, but even today on the DVD commentary, he breaks into tears several times! He also recounts how Voight sort of mishandled him one day in a swimming pool and this led to an extra layer of emotional upset for him during filming. Either due to a long filming schedule or reshoots, Catlett's hair during the finale has about 3/4 inch of gray ingrowth which isn't there in her earlier scenes! It's a film that will greatly appeal to a certain faction of viewers and which will equally annoy the faction who cannot go along on the tear-filled ride.