The Champ (1979)

Directed by Franco Zeffirelli. Starring Jon Voight, Rick Schroeder, Faye Dunaway, Arthur Hill, Jack Warden, Joan Blondell, Strother Martin, Elisha Cook Jr. [PG]

Schlocky sentimentalism in the form of a remake of a 1931 movie that was pretty lousy to begin with. Here, young Schroeder is hopelessly attached to his pop, an aging galoot of a boxer (Voight, miscast); but, wait, here comes absentee mom Dunaway, and another opportunity to get in the ring, and…well, even if there weren’t at least three versions of this same story floating around out there (one of them called The Clown), would it be possible to not see every plot point coming? Less a tearjerker than a tearwrencher, but its persistence is parodic, and there’s nothing here that feels grounded or resonant; if the script didn’t insist it was true, would anyone believe that Voight and Dunaway’s characters were ever in a previous relationship? Showing up late in the proceedings as a trainer, not even Warden can save this off-putting would-be tragedy. Schroeder, who cries enough to refill the dolphin tank at SeaWorld, often expresses himself with a one-word vocabulary, and his every utterance feels like a right cross to the ear. Positioned at the end of the 70s, Dunaway’s performance seems designed as a way to bid farewell to her reputable years—now it’s time for Mommie Dearest and Supergirl!

19/100