Champs (film)

Champs
Directed by	Bert Marcus
Written by	Bert Marcus
Produced by	Bert Marcus Mike Tyson Mario Lopez
Starring	Mike Tyson Evander Holyfield Bernard Hopkins Mark Wahlberg Denzel Washington Ron Howard Spike Lee Mary J. Blige 50 Cent
Cinematography	John Tipton
Edited by	Derk Boonstra Davon Ramos
Production company	Bert Marcus Productions
Release date	April 19, 2014 (2014-04-19) (Tribeca Film Festival)
Running time	85 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Champs is a 2014 documentary film focusing on boxers Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, and Bernard Hopkins. This epic story of the rise of three of the most successful boxers of our time challenges the perception of the American Dream through the intimately personal life trajectories of Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and Bernard Hopkins. Much like modern day gladiators, the protagonists come from the bottom rungs of society, choosing the path of boxing or “the poor man’s sport,” as a last resort, and an alternative to much bleaker options such as prison or, worse yet, death. Following these fighters’ paths from success to self-discovery, they recount their battles while illuminating our country’s most critical social issues, including the struggle with poverty, racial inequality, broken homes, drug and alcohol abuse, violence and the failures of our educational and prison systems. CHAMPS unearths the unique resilience of these men in the face of life’s most difficult obstacles — from personal finance to sustained brain injury — and highlights how our society and their industry exalts their fleeting success, but leaves them without the skills, protections, medical care and training that they need to succeed outside of the ring. We call them “champs” in sport, but cannot help but ask whether they can truly be champions in life.

The film had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 19, 2014. Starz Media and Amplify will distribute the film. The film will premiere with a large-scale roll-out debuting both in theaters and on VOD in Q1 of 2015.

Cast

• Mike Tyson
• Evander Holyfield
• Bernard Hopkins
• Mark Wahlberg
• Denzel Washington
• Ron Howard
• Spike Lee
• Mary J. Blige
• 50 Cent

Reception

The film has opened with critical acclaim. John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "In his debut doc about superstar fighters, Bert Marcus offers more sociology than boxing fans may expect, using mean-streets origin stories not just for biographical intrigue but to comment on hardships his subjects faced later in life." At Indiewire, Kevin Jagernauth wrote that it "examines what it means to be a man", and Zeba Blay described it as "more a social documentary than a sports documentary". Ashton Morris of The Hot Zone said, "Bert Marcus, with keen intellect and whimsical creativity, illuminates a long ignored "issue" – that's putting it lightly – in a sport that has left its mark on the fabric of our country's history.".

External links

• Champs at IMDb
• Champs at Rotten Tomatoes
• Template:Http://www.bertmarcus.com/