'Chuck': The Boxer Who Inspired 'Rocky' Gets A Dutiful Biopic
Critic Chris Klimek says Philippe Falardeau's film about the fall and rise of Chuck "The Bayonne Bleeder" Wepner, starring Liev Schreiber, suffers from a prosaic, just-the-facts approach.
"You know me, but you don't know you know me," reports Liev Schreiber, speaking in character as the subject of Philippe Falardeau's lightfooted — and lightweight — boxing biopic But fight fans know Schreiber without necessarily knowing they know him, too: For years he's been the offscreen narrator of HBO's documentary series which covers two boxers' training regimens in the weeks leading up to their much-hyped pay-per-view showdown. In those 30-minute episodes, Schreiber's speech is mannered, precise, and flat, offering no commentary on the hyperbolic clash-of-the-titans copy he's reading.
