Punhos de Sangue

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.

The first thing Chuck did right was it allowed me to be immersed into this world. The film takes place in the 60's and 70's, and I felt like I was right there! Everything from the costumes to the production design to being made on film, it all worked to create a very vintage look. I felt like I was right with these characters, and I think all the time and care that went into crafting the look of the film needs to be recognized. To take it a step further, the performances are what ultimately sold me. Sure, everything looked gorgeous and vintage, but I was not watching actors; I was watching characters. And that was key in selling me on this world they were displaying. Schrieber is fantastic in this movie! This may be the strongest performance I've seen him give. He, and everyone else too, was almost unrecognizable. This character could easily have been played as one-note, but Schrieber brought so many different layers to him. You understand that he's a really despicable guy, but Schrieber lets you see that he's really a broken man who has lost his way. You're not exactly sure whether Chuck is the protagonist or the antagonist, but it's the subtlety of Schrieber's acting that really lets you buy into this complex character.

Always good to see Ray Donovan and never more so than in this true story that inspired the Rocky movies.

Well put together movie with a well time narration throughout, they done a great job with setting this film in the 70's

Nice easy watch and very well filmed I thought the narration worked perfect with what was happening, solid acting and a good choice of cast,

I found the story really interesting even though I know the outcome of the Ali fight I was still cheering Chuck on.

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.