Better known as the Bayonne Bleeder, Chuck Wepner was a 70s-era heavyweight boxer with the ability to take a punch like no other, facing off in his career against Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, and even an actual live bear. But despite his numerous wins, and even more numerous losses, the apex of his life story was serving as the real-life inspiration for a little film called Rocky. Played with flair and pathos by Liev Schreiber, Chuck is taken in by his own newfound celebrity, succumbing to an epic life of drugs, booze, and wild women, while struggling to maintain the only true relationships he’s known- with his no-nonsense wife (Elisabeth Moss) and a straight-talking local bartender (Naomi Watts) with whom he has an undeniable immediate spark. Falardeau’s Chuck is an entertaining chronicle of the rise and fall of this larger-than-life legend.

—Mara Webster

Directed by

Philippe Falardeau