Chuck

Chuck is a drama based on the life of heavyweight boxer Chuck Wepner, a liquor salesman from New Jersey who fought Muhammad Ali for the world title in 1975. Wepner was a heavy underdog with a modest record, and few around him, including his wife and his closest friend, expected him to last long against the champion. Their fight went far longer than almost anyone anticipated, and the attention that followed turned Wepner into a celebrity. His sudden fame coincided with Sylvester Stallone drawing on Wepner's career for the character of Rocky Balboa, a connection that shaped how the public saw him. The film follows both the highs of that recognition and the personal difficulties that came with it.

Philippe Falardeau directed the film, which sits between The Good Lie and My Salinger Year in his filmography. Liev Schreiber plays Wepner and also wrote the screenplay with Michael Cristofer and Jerry Stahl; Schreiber produced alongside Michael Tollin and Lati Grobman. Naomi Watts and Elisabeth Moss appear as Linda and Phyllis Wepner, with Ron Perlman, Jim Gaffigan and Michael Rapaport in supporting roles.

Released in May 2017, the film runs 101 minutes. On IMDb it holds a rating of 6.8 from 83 critics' reviews, while on TMDB it averages 6.2 from 184 votes. The critic score is somewhat higher than the audience score, indicating that reviewers responded to the film more favorably than general viewers did.