CHUCK

Liev Schreiber     Elisabeth Moss     Naomi Watts     Ron Perlman     Jim Gaffigan     Morgan Spector     Pooch Hall

     The story of Chuck is not much different from so many other sad boxing tales in the movies (e.g., The Fighter, Hands of Stone, Raging Bull) in which the fighter comes from humble origins, doesn’t mind getting hit, is persistent against all odds, gets bruised and bloodied in the ring, indulges in self-inflated trash talk, and after he has a success or two gets into serious trouble that threatens his career and destroys his family.  In fact, the fighter in Chuck, Chuck Wepner, is the real person on which the character in the movie Rocky is based. 

     Chuck (Schreiber) has such a reputation for getting beat up in the ring, his nickname is the “Bayonne [New Jersey] Bleeder.”  He never shows pain, and when his wife worries about him or his daughter draws a picture of his battered face, his response is always, “I don’t mind getting hit.”  Chuck’s wife Phyliss, beautifully played by the talented Elisabeth Moss, is supportive, comforting, and a good sport; that is, except in cases where his flirtatiousness exceeds the limits of her tolerance.

     Everyone gets excited when Chuck’s trainer (Perlman) informs him that Don King, the influential boxing promoter, wants Muhammad Ali to fight a “white guy” at the world championship.  Chuck has won enough rounds with other fighters that he is considered and finally chosen to be that guy.  That’s enough to get his name on the map, because after the fight went through more rounds than was expected, Chuck became famous. 

     Thereafter, the story grows dark as Chuck has hopes of starring in Sylvester Stallone’s second Rocky picture.  (The first one was based on Chuck’s life, and even though he recognizes that it is actually the story of his life, he simply enjoys the compliment).  But by this time nightlife has done him in, and he fails to succeed in the audition.  He ends up being arrested for drug trafficking, and goes to prison.  That’s not the end of the story for Chuck, though.

     The script and the direction of this film by Philippe Falardeau is well done, and the acting by Schreiber, Moss, Perlman, and Watts is especially good.  Watts doesn’t really figure in until toward the end of the story, so in the interest of not being a spoiler, I won’t go into that.  I will say that the film could have done a better job of folding her character into the plot early on so that what finally transpires is more plausible.

     This seems to be a case where the movie is well done by all concerned, but because there have been so many predecessors telling the same tale, Chuck doesn’t have the punch (pun intended) to wow us as it may have intended.

Yes, another film about boxing, with the hero replicating his predecessors.

Grade:  C                        By Donna R. Copeland

FANTASTIC BEASTS and WHERE TO FIND THEM

Eddie Redmayne   Katherine Waterston   Colin Farrell   Dan Fogler   Allison Sudol   Samantha Morton  

Ezra Miller   Ron Perlman   Jon Voight   Carmen Ejogo   Johnny Depp

          This spinoff of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series contains all the excitement and fascination we would hope would follow the previous series.  Exceptionally directed by David Yates (who directed four of the eight Harry Potter series), it is Rowling’s first screenplay and verifies once again her talent as a writer.  It stars the chameleon actor Eddie Redmayne as a “magizoologist” who has written a text used by the Hogwarts School and whose interest is in protecting exotic beasts that the rest of the world seems to fear and want to wipe out.  He regards them as endangered species, and carries a handy little briefcase to tuck them into when the need arises.  From there, they are magically transported to a sanctuary he has built for them.

         Newt Scamander (Redmayne) has come to the U.S. to relocate a beast he has rescued into the Arizona desert.  What he encounters upon arriving in New York, though, is something like a terrorist threat.  The city is under attack from something—nobody seems to know what, and we get only vague descriptions of it, but it is wrecking everything in its path.  In addition, there seems to be tension among factions—those who want to stamp out magic, saying the practitioners are witches, those who want to preserve it (Magical Congress of the United States of America—MANCUSA), and No-Maj people (with no magical powers).  Everyone seems to want to protect these poor souls.

         Typical of Rowling, we see parallel stories develop with characters we care about, others with evil intent, and still others caught in the middle of these two forces.  We see Tina (Waterston) and her sister Queenie (Sudol) trying to use their magic in a positive way despite self-serving superiors like Percival Graves (Farrell) and possibly Seraphina (Ejogo), president of MACUSA, whose sentiments are not always discernible.  We see Mary Lou Barebone (Morton) who takes in orphans like Credence (Miller) and preaches against magic. And we see Percival Graves (Farrell) wielding his power over Credence to manipulate him into searching for someone Graves wants.  The intermixing of all these strains adds complexity and enhances our fascination with the tale.

        Cinematography (Phillippe Rousselot), production design (Stuart Craig and James Hambridge), and visual/special effects essentially carry this film, right along with the story and the characters portrayed by captivating actors.  It’s so rewarding to see Redmayne play a modest hero magically out to do good—but then, he is an expert at that, presumably because it taps into his own personal qualities.  Supporting actors Katherine Waterston, Allison Sudol, Samantha Morton, and Ron Perlman (always creepy) give notable performances that further the elevation of this film’s quality. 

J.K. Rowling:  You got it!

Grade:  A                                    By Donna R. Copeland