Saw this movie today on Starz. Josh Hartnett is a second-generation journalist living in the shadow of his late father’s legacy. He meets a homeless guy that talks like Dave Chapelle’s Tyrone Biggums, looks like Predator, and is about as coherent as John Nash. Thinking this guy is some ex-Champion boxer, Hartnett sets out to make a name for himself by writing about this one-time fighter turned transient.
This movie centers around how sons want their fathers to be proud of them and vice-versa. Apparently, lying is a justifiable way to accomplish this. Josh Hartnett’s character is so eager for his son’s admiration that he fabricates stories about being friends with pro athletes. On the other side, he’s so eager to live up to the journalistic standards set by his father that he goes so far as to write a nationally syndicated article without actually verifying that this homeless guy is who he says he is. He sees two seconds of video of an old fight and runs with it. “Yup! That’s him! He showed me that scar.” Uh…no dumbass. Your friend isn’t the champ. He’s the OTHER black guy in the fight. The one getting his ass whooped.
Overall, might have been good if all the characters weren’t liars and the main conflict wasn’t that a journalist didn’t do his job.
I Hate Every Movie 