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Resurrecting the Champ | 2007 | PG-13 | - 4.7.5

Josh Hartnett stars as a struggling sports reporter who rescues a former boxing champion (Samuel L. Jackson) who's living on the streets, and soon discovers that the homeless man is, in fact, a boxing legend that was believed to have died. The opportunity to resurrect the champ's story turns into a personal journey as the reporter examines his own life and his relationship with his family, and particularly his six-year-old son. Also with Teri Hatcher, Alan Alda and Kathryn Morris. Directed by Rod Lurie. [1:51]

SEX/NUDITY 4 - A husband and wife are seen lying in bed together, under blankets; she is wearing a nightgown and he is in a T-shirt, and he puts his arm around her waist.
 A woman is seen parading around the boxing ring in a short, black, see-through cover that resembles a negligee, and we see her bare legs and her silhouette, and a young woman is shown parading around the boxing ring in a bikini exposing bare skin, arms, legs, thighs, abdomen and cleavage. A woman is seen in a nightgown that has a high split in the front exposing her bare legs and thighs, and a woman wears a dress with a plunging neckline heavily exposing her cleavage. We see a man lying in the bed alone (his bare chest, legs, thighs and feet are visible as he moves around) and in several boxing scenes we see men in trunks, with their bare chests exposed.
 A man and a woman are shown dancing closely in a bar, they stare at each other and the woman looks as if she is about to kiss the man (the man pulls away from her). A woman invites a man back to her hotel room for "drinks" (the man declines the invitation and the scene ends).
 A man kisses a woman on the cheek. In another scene a husband kisses his wife's cheek.
 A man tells a female coworker, "I could kiss you" and she responds that she could "sue him." A woman talks about turning a "one-night stand" into a "torrid love affair." A man asks a woman if he "ever hit on her."
 A man is seen from the back urinating in an alley (we can hear the trickle).


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VIOLENCE/GORE 7 - We see several boxing and sparring scenes where two men are shown hitting each other repeatedly in the face and throwing punches to the head and body; the blows have loud sound effects and we see the impact, and we see men being knocked out and falling to the ground unconscious and incoherent (men lay on the floor with their eyes wide and staring blankly).
 Fighters are shown with bruises from fights: A man's eye is bloody and swollen (blood trickles down his face), another man's eye is bruised, but there is no blood and in one scene we see blood splatter on a piece of paper when a man is struck in the boxing ring.
 A group of men pick a fight with a homeless man, they call him names, yell at him repeatedly and are shown pushing, shoving and punching him, and one holds the man while the others continuously punch him; the man falls to the ground and the group of men continue to hit and kick him, laughing and taunting him at the same time and the man begs them to stop.
 We see a man fall hard on his back and die from the impact. A man is seen lying in an alley after he has been beaten; he tries to get up and collapses.
 A man raises his shirt and shows a mark that was left on his bare back after a beating by his father. A man scares another man and we hear a loud scream.
 A young child cries as his classmates taunt him. There is talk of a man's father dying from cancer, we see a funeral in progress and see a casket ready to be buried at the gravesite. A man talks of giving another man "shots to the head." A man talks constantly about breaking another man's nose and the man having "nosebleeds," and a man talks of someone's brains being mangled. A man talks about the death of his son to gang violence. A man is said to have died in a plane crash. A man talks of being "whooped" by his father when he was nine years old and a man says his parents beat him. A man talks about having been abandoned by his father. A man talks of leaving his wife and son. A man tells several lies throughout the movie to his son and boss. A man talks about moving to avoid being humiliated. A man says he hates his father. A man says aloud that he wishes he was dead. A man talks of the death of his dog.
 Several homeless men are shown eating in a homeless shelter and huddled together in an alley. A homeless man is shown eating out of a garbage can and a homeless man is shown sleeping in an alley. A homeless man is shown pushing a metal grocery cart with all of his belongings. A young child is shown feeling sorry and in distress after meeting a homeless man.
 A homeless man is shown throughout the movie in worn, torn, soiled clothing, his teeth are very yellow, he walks with a shuffle and speaks in a raspy high-pitched voice, his hair is in long locks and in one scene we see his bare feet and his toenails are yellow, dirty and his feet are very ashy and rough.

LANGUAGE 5 - 1 F-word, 11 scatological terms, 11 anatomical terms, 9 mild obscenities, 2 racial insults, 1 derogatory term for a woman, name-calling (loser, bum), 2 religious profanities, 1 religious exclamation.

SUBSTANCE USE - In several scenes a man is seen drinking from a bottle covered in a brown paper bag, a man drinks whiskey and picks a fight (he is angry and drunk), in several scenes a man is shown drinking straight from a bottle, we see people drinking in a bar, men are shown drinking beer (in one scene we see two men drink a six pack of beer), a man offers another man a cold beer, a man is asked if he wants a drink because he is hurt, and a man offers a man a drink to help drown his sorrows. In several scenes a man is seen smoking cigarettes, a man is shown with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, and a man is shown holding a cigar, but we do not see him smoke it.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Lying, honesty, integrity, the truth, homelessness, death, divorce/separation, discipline by a parent, ethics, living in someone's shadow, not being good enough, humiliation, identity theft, alcohol abuse, forgiveness, self-esteem, low self-esteem, bullies, success, parent/child relationships, respect, abandonment.

MESSAGE - We do not have to lie and pretend to be something that we are not to gain the love and respect of others.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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