The Champ

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StephenPaul C The greatest 01 hour: and 26 minutes ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 06/07/23 Full Review Louisa E I thought this was a charming movie. I enjoyed the plot and was really annoyed that Andy couldn't shape up! The acting was superb. I am amazed that Jackie Cooper did a better acting job than most full-grown actors of the time. Wallace was very believable and engendered sympathy for a man with terrible habits. I wish the boxing scenes were more believable and there was more rapport between Dink and his mother before the end. 7/10. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 05/13/23 Full Review Audience Member I can tell when a filmmaker wants me to cry. It works sometimes and sometimes it doesn't. I know I am being manipulated. "The Champ" does that. It is overly special, at times syrupy. And...that can be okay. The film might be working over my emotions, but I allow it on occasion, especially when the acting is good and the story is sincere. Wallace Beery won a Best Actor Oscar as the down and out boxer who can hardly take care of his son, played with gusto by a young Jackie Cooper. That sincerity makes thee film more than watchable. I did care about little Cooper, while hoping Beery gets his act together. Not great storytelling, but sometimes I don't mind so much being manipulated. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/09/23 Full Review Audience Member This tells the story of a washed up alcoholic boxer attempting to put his life back together for the sake of his son. Beery won the Best Actor Oscar, Frances Marion won for Best Story. This along with Beery's role in Min and Bill catapulted his career. This was an inverted women's film, because men are not generally depicted at the top of the socio-economic ladder but are shown as a primary childcare provider. In the famous final scene, Cooper's weeping face has been compared to similar aggressive camera work in other films. The movie had a great cultural effect as a number of films in the 1930s had the same basic story about a man surrendering to drink and redeemed by the love of his long-suffering son. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/08/23 Full Review Audience Member Andy Purcell is an alcoholic gambler trying to get back into his old heavyweight boxing career, and who has custody of his young son Dink, who idolizes him, despite their living in a squalid apartment and Andy's vices of gambling and drinking. He manages to win a racehorse in a bet, giving it to his son, but ends up running into his ex-wife and her new wealthy husband. Andy ends up gambling further and loses the racehorse, and has to take a $300 bribe from his ex-wife to allow Dink to visit her. The mother can provide a better life for Dink...but will he leave his father? The movie has its contrivances, namely the fact that Andy has custody of his son rather than his mother, which rarely happens either in the past or nowadays unless the mother is clearly unfit (hardly indicated in the story). Also, Beery was supposed to do a poor job of boxing in the fight scene, but he overdoes it, throwing his arms all over the place. Still, the movie works thanks to the performances by the two leads. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Steve D There isn't enough of a script even if the acting is great. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 06/03/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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