Champion

First of all, let me say that I am a fan of Danny Trejo. I enjoy all of his movies and I wish him the best in everything he does, but this documentary did not do him justice. This piece had so much potential that I feel the director and producer messed up. The had some good footage but it lacked so many elements to tell his story. Here's what the story needed. First, there should of been a mixture of soundbites, photos, film footage, music, etc. to get the viewers attention. Draw the viewer in to the piece. Second, get rid of the producer asking questions on the couch and walking around with Danny on the streets. She was in the way, she was like a reporter in training. Third, what's up with the interview in the yard with him in the shade and the sun in the background. Fourth, he's been in so many movies that there was more than enough footage on him and yet the only thing the director and producer found was spy kids. 5th, he talks a lot of Soledad Prison, the director went to San Quentin and on the way back to L.A. he could not stop by Soledad to shoot a few shots of the prison. The most important thing to remember is to tell a story, listen to what Danny Trejo is saying and you know what kind of footage you need to tell his story. Just tell a story. Last thing is that the director never talked about his famous tattoos. What about the tattoos?

I noticed that one reviewer really, really, really hated this film. While some of their concerns about the quality of the production were fair, how could the film earn such a low score when Danny Trejo's life story is so exciting and engaging?! Even if it had been shot using an iPhone, it couldn't help but be worth your time.

Danny Trejo is probably the busiest guy in Hollywood. In 2014, he appeared in about 20 different films--now that is clearly busy! The film is Danny and a few friends and family discussing his life. As a teen, he was a crazy punk with an apparent death wish. Then, after spending more than a decade in prison, he made a huge change--kicking drugs and alcohol, finding God and becoming a role model...not to mention a movie star! It's a really amazing story about redemption and I liked the simplicity of the story as it was told. Well worth seeing.

All I can say is that I wanted to enjoy this documentary, but found it really does the actor a disservice. Very poor directing. Seemed at times an exercise in showing all the different things an editing program can do, very cool, if you are nine years old, but really painful to watch when not needed. Now I ran out of things to say because there is not much left to say, but in the hands of a more skilled filmmaker, this could have been interesting, instead it just seemed very amateur. But if you are a fan you may like it, I was disappointed that he did not have better talent to cover his story. Nice try but a big fat pass here.

A life-turned-metaphor, Danny Trejo's story is The Hero's Journey. Your life may not look like his life, but his life is all our lives.

Danny's young adult life was defined by violent crime and drug addiction. He spent 11 years in California prisons. He'll be the first to tell you he got what he deserved. But in prison, in isolation, he stumbled across a wisdom worthy of parable: Only by helping others can you help yourself. Danny abandoned selfish for selfless and separateness for community, and in return his sadness turned to joy and darkness turned to light. Danny walked out of his spiritual and physical prison to serve others. And after prison, Danny's road to a better life came not at anyone's expense, but at everyone's increase: in love, in values, and in faith.

"Champion" is a documentary of one man's journey, limited by its subject, and vulnerable to boredom. But it's subject defies gravity, holding its audience up and lifting them from their seats. Danny Trejo proves the adage: Comedy equals tragedy plus time. Danny is an abundance of all three. Danny Trejo reminds us that redemption is beautiful. Reaching out to God saved his life. Faith in God changed his life. Listening to Danny Trejo just might change your life.

Good Luck to the film's Producers. The film deserves it. Danny Trejo doesn't look for luck, he has faith. And, he earned it.

Early on in Chamion, a documentary on the hard-knock life and eventual fruitful career as character actor Danny Trejo (with now over 100 films to his name), the writer/interviewer Cecily Gambrell is asked by Trejo how this is going to go, and she responds that it should just be "like on Oprah." At that moment I sort of cringed, and it was something that would permeate throughout the rest of the film. It goes without saying that the turbulent and sort of inspiring story of Trejo's life from urban squalor to cult movie star status is impressive on its own, and to hear Trejo talk about it in any form is interesting. But the director and interviewer/writer of the film almost go out of their way to make it filmed in an dissatisfying way, which is troubling. At times, with the fade-to-white transitions (which are used quite often), the title cards explaining this or that about Trejo's early years into prison-life, and the shoddy camera-work (frankly I think my near-blind mother could shoot better than this), make it a little unpleasant as a form of storytelling.

Of course, I'm not expecting this to be an Errol Morris or Al Maysles film, but there just seems to be some lack of drive in how the director moves Trejo's story along, and the questions only probe so far enough so that Trejo goes on with his stories simply enough and without too much pretense (the stories involving Bunker are, in fact, some of the best parts, or at least least contrived, in the film). Which is fine, but there seems to be even more under the surface in Trejo's long and bumpy road from juvenile delinquent, habitual drug-user, thief, inmate, and eventual rehabilitated and strong-as-hell actor, than is really checked out on, and it's a little pathetic to see the same short clips from *Spy Kids* shown when his fellow colleagues like Buscemi and Robert Rodriguez talk about his work as a bad-ass in films like Con Air and Desperado (sure it's probably a rights issue, but still, it's such a lame clip to show, even if he is technically playing Machete).

In short, I think that compared to this, a man like Trejo would probably have an awesome time on Oprah's show- maybe not jumping on the couch, but who knows? It almost seems like Rodriguez himself- a second cousin of Trejo- should've made this documentary, as opposed to Eckhart, who's never done a documentary, which shows. This all said, the criticism I had though is really only of the style of camera and editing and the questions given on screen; Trejo himself is consistently watchable and engaging, and its for him alone, if you're a fan (and who isn't after seeing the Machete trailer during Grindhouse), that it's worth checking out.