The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 18, 1979, Page Page 7, Image 7
t
'Champ'
sugar-coa
By David Bakar
Entertainment Editor
Though I didn't see anyone crying at th<
screening I attended, word has it that while
watching Franco Zeffirelli's The Champ
people are virtually awash in tears. I don'
know exactly why people are reacting this
wav. but I Ho hflVP throo fhonpioo oKaiii
^ , ? ?T V vv V1IVVA IVO U fc/VM
them: 1) they are crying over having
wasted two hours; 2) they are crying ovei
having wasted three dollars; or 3) they wem
into the theatre so primed to open up theii
tear ducts that even the slightest bit ol
sadness (such as the girl at the concession
counter announcing that the theatre has sole
out its supply of popcorn) wo.ild have beer
enough to send them running from the
theatre in search of Kleenex.
A re-make of King Vidor's 19:u classic
about an over-the-hill boxer, The Champ ha:
been updated and glamorized to the poin
where the characters are practically
uiuciuBiuz.ciuie. 11 oniy me pioi nao Deer
updated as well, the movie might not hav<
been so bad.
As it is, The Champ places 1970s
characters into a plot that was hackneyec
even in the 1930s. It almost goes without
saying that the end result of such a union is
like that of sulfuric acid and water ? a
bomb.
Jon Voight, in his first appearance since
his Academy Award winning performance
in Coming Home, stars as Billy Flynn. He's
a former heavyweight boxing champion
who, after a nasty divorce, is reduced tc
working as a stableboy at a racetrack
somewhere in Florida. He spends his spare
time gambling, drinking and trying to bring
up his eight-year-old son, T.J. (played by
Rickv Schroder), who still calls dad "thp
Champ" no matter how unruly the old man
becomes.
This little habit of T.J.'s naturally brings
W\ :% '
tgj* ' " , v ^
1
Jack Barry works on,
re-make is
ted 'Rocky'
nk/u.f " =
nuvui iccuiiga ui gum uii oiiiy s pari,
the guilt, of course, compounds B
i drinking problem, placing both chara<
i in a vicious circle.
, Enter Billy's ex-wife, Annie (playe
t Faye Dunaway). She sees T.J. one cU
? the track and immediately falls for
t sugary quips about the racehorse
\ Daddy has just bought him. When A
' learns that T.J. is actually the son
t abandoned seven years earlier, she de<
* she wants him back.
f The remainder of the film details the
i between Billy and Annie over who
1 custody of T.J. and the figM In? I ween
1 and the bottle, which culminates in
i disastrous comebaek attempt.
b.rangely enough, most of this figl
: takes place without a harsh word t
5 uttered by anyone. Zeffirelli, in se\
I instances, has replaced dialogue with t<
j Honestly, I can't recall a stretch of film
1 10 minutes in length wherein no one er
; into tears.
Billy cries because of the way he tr
T.J., Annie cries because of the way
j treated Billy and T.J. seven years ago,
' T.J. cries because of anything
[ everything.
'* The only scene benefitting from
1 barrage of water is the one in which 1
tearfully asks Annie to come back to
' But even this, the best scene in the film
> its problems, for it takes place in a st
that appears to have been designed b
i interior decorator who went haywire
> hay bales.
In fact, it seems as if Zeffirelli hin
' went haywire trying to make The Ch
I into a classy version of Rocky. Bu
making his cast succumb to so many we
i eved attemnts to null nn th*> viou
i heartstrings, Zeffirelli has created not
more than Rocky Meets the Sugary
Fairy.
IReviewe
as possibh
reviewed,
syndicatec
how you lo
trite, borir
The Joki
five days a
to deserve
n beyond cc
believably
stereotype
derstand e
pronunicat
witted two
What mi
air is that i
of any j
divesting i
bland as a
a game she
El ne gene
to answer
get by spii
see the exe
it big and n
What is
seems to al
itself ? the
not a clear
med schoo
way throu*
for the Brai
rinu uivv
a* n?,. ;/? posite sexe
rl/s smile attempt at
ly at .w
' his WW
that 1 M /** 11
,nn'e jr maJ '
She -:VW;||:I^ JR^
:ides " ***** lP .
*3 Jon Voight, Ricky Schn
hing \
tlum %
-a-: m
nduring 'The Jc
le Edsel of TV <
4k.
By Lehman Stiles
Assistant Entertainment Editor ilTlUSinfi
;rs are duty-bound to present, as faithfully studio a
s, an unbiased, honest view of the subject goes for
i nai is wny 11 is sucn a joy to review tne another,
1 TV show The Joker's Wild ? no matter "O.K.
ok at it, it's awful; a simplistic, uninspired, are: Ch
ig attempt at mass hypnotism. The Hist
er's Wild comes on at 6 p.m., unfailingly, He then
week. What the Columbia public has done the wro
i this rude interruption of good taste is humor a
mnprehension. Host Jack Barry is un- one gets
conformed to the game-show host The si
? a wired-on smile, an inability to un- contesta
?ven the most basic ureceDts of Enelish than to I
ion and the mental capacity of a slow- be had c
year-old. seen. Bl
ikes it possible to get this charade on the accoladc
t is the perfect game show. It divests itself like "Esl
>ossibly disturbing characteristics by plane cr<
tself of characteristics altogether. It is as Despit
wet soda cracker, as boring as . . . well, as however
iw can get. Maybe t
ral idea seems to be for contestants show's a
questions in various categories that they will pro
ining a giant one-armed bandit. One can Anything
cuiivc icievision ininu ai worn nere: maKe Anyini
lake it flashy, and the public will lap it up. controlle
really amazing, though, is how the show suspense
tract contestants that are as boring as it is context,
bland leading the bland, so to speak . If it's peal ? t
-cut young man working his way through prize rep
I, it's a clean-cut young maid working her a nicesy:
jh charm school. These people could pass If ycJi
dy Bunch's neighbors. least con
itably, if the two contestants are of op- By the w;
S and aren't marripd Rarrv mnlfw: enmo knnu/ thi
humorous matchmaking that is about as Joker's V
y jM
J8S
)der and Jaci
PPP^
>ker's V
jame si
as the Spanish Inquisi
jdience (people who obv
this, but the contestants
just like they are expecte
" Jack will say, "the c
ickens, The Wonderful
ory of Fried Rice, and Ti
proceeds to read the wroi
ng contestants, attemp
nd give away the answe
the feeling that he's forge
low's budget is Dure sv
nts more often win trips
'aris or London, and norn
n network game shows j
t it's all proportional; t<
s, the contestants have t
cimos in what state saved
ish? "
e all its absurdities i
The Joker's Wild roll:
iwiay someone will spin
juivalent of an orgasm).
lounce the contestants'
;can happen!
ng, that is, within th
d limits. It's suspense wi
; it's the element of lu
Perhaps that is why the
hese nice people will all
ardless of their degree o!
; torn 9
idea of entertainment i
imon denominator, then t
*y, the Eskimos were in A
t, then you're a prime
/ild, television's biggest j
k Warden
I
. >< N' ^ x " '
U. ^ ^
: - S: "
Vild;
7
lows
tion. Not even the
iously know better)
glance shyly at one
>d to.
ategories for today
Telephone System,
lrhan Bev Movies."
lg questions, call on
t more Inquisition
>rs. And sometimes
>tten where he is.
ndication, too. The
to Mexican resorts
; of the big bucks to
are anywhere to be
> win their dubious
0 answer questions
1 victims of a recent
and non-sequiturs,
s on. Who knows?
a triple joker (the
Maybe today Barry
names correctly.
e show's strictlythout
the danger of
ck put into a safe
show has such apI
0f*i C\ CI r\ ino_aii?Qif
ev-v " p?w,,,fs
f success. Isn't that
s the concept of a
his show is for you.
il.Qclra If \tf\ll Hi/ln'f
iiMonu. 11 J V/M UI U11 i
contestant for The
oke.