{"id":4348,"date":"2017-05-01T11:34:16","date_gmt":"2017-05-01T16:34:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/?p=4348"},"modified":"2018-08-20T15:10:33","modified_gmt":"2018-08-20T20:10:33","slug":"chuck-bleeder-a-must-see-for-sports-fans-wepner-vs-ali","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/?p=4348","title":{"rendered":"“Chuck” (Bleeder) a must see for sports fans……..Wepner vs Ali"},"content":{"rendered":"

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For sports fans in general and boxing fans in particular, a new movie opens in the United States this weekend that will bring back memories if you\u00a0followed the pugilistic fist-a-cuffs\u00a0during the Muhammad Ali era.\u00a0\u00a0It is named “Chuck”, formally called “Bleeder”, referring to the real life\u00a0“Rocky” of the\u00a01970’s Chuck Wepner.<\/h6>\n

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This movie\u00a0brought back great memories I have of a day when heavy-weigh boxing was more than just a passing thought.\u00a0 A time when the most recognized person on the earth was a sports figure and his name was not Pele. It was Muhammad Ali, the\u00a0heavy-weight\u00a0champion of the world.\u00a0 There was no discussion\u00a0on who was the champ, and Ali was not just a bigtime boxer. He was\u00a0larger than life, and what he\u00a0said, did, and represented\u00a0dominated not only sport but\u00a0politics and the world view in general\u00a0 Some hated him and others loved him.\u00a0 Even today after his recent death, he has people in both camps. And part of\u00a0Ali’s life was to\u00a0“meet” the men in the heavy-weight\u00a0division that\u00a0tried to knock the hell out of him at any cost.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Chuck Wepner was one of those men that gave it a try.\u00a0 “Chuck” the movie is about this man and his date with Ali in the ring.<\/h6>\n

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From a strong positive reaction to the film by top critic Norman Wilner:<\/h6>\n

The Bleeder offers a fairly equivocal take on that story, with Liev Schreiber (who also co-produced and co-wrote the film) playing the boxer as a loudmouthed hustler who carries himself like a king. It\u2019s the GoodFellas of boxing movies, with Wepner\u2019s self-aggrandizing voice-over constantly challenged by the images we\u2019re seeing \u2013 an angry wife (Elisabeth Moss), an alienated brother (Michael Rapaport) and a drug habit that ruined the parts of his life he hadn\u2019t already destroyed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wepner might think he\u2019s Rocky Balboa, but Rocky Balboa was a good husband, a good father and a winner. Schreiber and Falardeau let him talk, but their movie has no illusions: The Bleeder knows this guy\u2019s a bum.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Any movie that is compared to “GoodFellas” must be a winner.\u00a0 It is.\u00a0 Take a trip back to a day when the fight game was not all good.\u00a0 But it was salient.\u00a0 And if you are over sixty, you understand. If you are a novice in sport, or younger than a\u00a0millennial, wise up and\u00a0take a taste\u00a0where sport, especially boxing, was\u00a0just more than two men beating their brains into permanent damage.<\/h6>\n

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(this movie is rated R for bloody images, profanity, sexuality, and nudity<\/span>)<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Feature photo:\u00a0 Live Schreiber as Chuck Wepner (http:\/\/www.cultjer.com\/liev-schreiber-as-boxer-chuck-wepner)<\/strong><\/p>\n

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https:\/\/youtu.be\/SFlGuhV23zQ<\/p>\n

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https:\/\/youtu.be\/2QhLxgBPj9g<\/p>\n

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  For sports fans in general and boxing fans in particular, a new movie opens…<\/p>\n

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