Samuel L. Jackson does something in Resurrecting the Champ that he usually pulls off in most of his films:, he completely disappears into his character. Think about the poetic hitman Jules Winnfield in Pulp Fiction (1994), or the psychopath drug dealer Ordell Robbie in Jackie Brown (1997), or most recently, the troubled bluesman Lazarus in Black Snake Moan (2006). Whether he is under heavy make-up, wearing wigs, or sporting scars, Jackson knows how to precisely deliver his lines as if he was born to play these men. Many of his characters are not morally good people, but the intelligence and unrelenting strength in his eyes speaks volumes. Unfortunately for him, Resurrecting the Champ does not offer much to its audience other than a few good individual moments and Jackson's rock-solid performance.

In the film, Josh Hartnett plays a young, ambitious sports reporter named Erik Kernan Jr. In Erik's private life he is separating from his estranged wife Joyce (Kathryn Morris), who also works for the newspaper and with whom he has a six-year-old son named Teddy (Dakota Goyo). At work he is in trouble, even though his sports columns are frequent, his editor, Metz (Alan Alda), claims they are sloppy and underwhelming. One night, after coming back from work, he runs into a few guys who are beating up a local bum they call Champ (Samuel L. Jackson). Erik decides to help the poor man up off of the ground and a conversation ensues. Champ tells him his real name is Bob Satterfield, a former boxing contender, who at one time was as high as No. 3 in the world. Seeing this as an opportunity of a lifetime, Erik decides to bring Champ's story back to life while resurrecting his own troubled career.

Resurrecting the Champ was directed by Rod Lurie, a one-time journalist and film critic turned filmmaker. His previous credits include the overlooked political thriller masterpiece The Contender (2000), about sorority secrets that come to surface of a woman senator as she runs for the Vice Presidency, and the interesting The Last Castle (2001), about a general who assembles 1,200 inmates to rise against the system that put him away. Lurie typically knows how to create conflict, thrills, and intrigue, but his latest effort settles into a predictable, mediocre melodrama that constantly fails to locate its identity. The subplots involve a woman (Teri Hatcher), who is the head of casting Showtime that expresses interest in Erik's article, or the background tale of his father, who was a local radio legend whose past Erik needs to escape, or Teddy, his son who wants to connect with his confused dad, These are just examples of how unorganized and uncertain this film is. There are countless cliched pieces of dialogue that we all have heard many times before like: "Your son loves you," or "I wish your son does something for you like what you just did for me."�� The truth is, Hartnett is still not ready to carry a film on his shoulders, especially one that is neither original nor insightful. Resurrecting the Champ really wants to be a successful crowd-pleaser, but in the end, it is formulaic and disappointing.