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Southpaw telegraphs its punches. They do connect, but lose much of their impact because you see most coming. That said, Jake Gyllenhaal is an impressive physical actor, if not an exceptionally charismatic one. The result is a movie that’s worth a cheap’o rental for boxing movie fans, albeit …
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Hands of Stone is a ham-fisted biopic of boxing great Roberto Durán. Raging Bull it’s not, notwithstanding Robert De Niro in a major role. That said, it does provide clear insight into Durán’s impoverished childhood, rise to prominence and fall from grace after his “No Mas” capitulation to Suga…
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Ana de Armas has star quality.
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Father Figures gets in touch with the inner child lurking just below the surface of several grown men, making it an emblematic comedy of our infantilized time. Fortunately, it’s a pretty funny one, worth a play. There’s one terrific scene, when an unusually confident Ed Helms picks up an unu…
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Bradshaw & Simmons: Father Figures
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Funny enough. |
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USA Basketball will likely romp to a gold medal in the 2012 Olympics. But even LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook can’t hold a candle to the original Dream Team. “A majestic team,” observed Chuck Daly, their coach. Michael Jordan – just peaking as a glo…
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The Cover That Christened Them
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A treat for football fans and civil rights era history buffs, this charming and affecting but overly reverential biopic will likely bore everyone else. That said, excellent performances by Rob Brown, Dennis Quaid and others, top notch production values, and first-rate football action do this i…
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Jim Brown interviewed about Ernie Davis
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A three hanky weeper of the best kind – uplifting and funny. I was fortunate to watch it in the darkened cabin of an overnight flight to London, otherwise the tears streaming down my face would have been noticeable to others. But a good man-cry …
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Momma's Boy: The real Michael Oher
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This magnificent political biography also happens to be a very good movie. Not a great movie, but a great and important story, well told and even better acted by its two leads. Lessons in history and leadership should all be so charismatic. The movie has rhythms and totems unfamiliar to Amer…
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American superstars as African heroes
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Cliches are rarely so well calibrated as in Trouble with the Curve. Crusty father, chip-off-the-ol’-block daughter, minor league baseball, small towns, hot dogs, roadhouses, and on and on. BTW, those hot dogs are of the ballpark and ballplayer varieties, with one of the latter played by Justin …
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Heartwarming
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Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky franchise lives on, now centered on a new generation and an African-American hero. This all works and provides a dose of social relevance, making Creed II a solid entrant in the Rocky canon. It’s also a better than average boxing movie, largely because it follows the …
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Behind most good men is a father figure
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