Hey folks. Capone in Chicago here.

I like surprises, and here's another one that sneaked into my world and really impressed me. I've mentioned this before, but it's rare that I ever walk into a screening with no knowledge of what a film's plot is. When it happens, it usually happens by accident; I may have just forgotten to read beyond the cast list on the screening invitation.

And that's exactly what happened with RESURRECTING THE CHAMP, the true story of low-level Denver sports reporter Erik Kernan (Josh Hartnett), the son of a legendary sports broadcaster. He's not particularly good at his job, or perhaps he's just not being given the opportunity to be by his editor (Alan Alda). His estranged wife (Kathryn Morris) also works at the paper, and that distraction doesn't help things. One night after covering a boxing match, Erik stumbles upon some young punks beating up homeless man they refer to as "Champ" (Samuel L. Jackson). While making sure the man is alright, Erik discovers that he is "Battling" Bob Satterfield, a legendary boxer who went toe to toe with many boxing legends many years earlier. Erik is so eager to get a chance to write a real feature story that he shops the Satterfield piece to a Sunday magazine rather than his paper.

Erik and the Champ spend day after day together as the reporter observes and gathers information on this man who many believed had passed away years earlier. But his basic fighting skills are still a part of him, and his ability to read a fight are un-phased by the years or his hard living. As he compiles the story, Erik also feels his own self-value returning to him and his confidence in his abilities as a husband and father to his young son slowly returns.

When the article about the rise and fall of the Champ hits the streets, he is praised as a great writer and Satterfield becomes a local celebrity. The trouble is, this occurs at about the halfway point of the film. Although not entirely unpredictable, the film takes a remarkable turn at this juncture in the plot, and things stop looking particularly rosy for either man. Kernan's newly acquired job as a ringside announcer for Showtime boxing matches and at the Sunday magazine disappear because of a key flaw in his reporting of the story. I'm sure other critics will, but I don't want to ruin the turn of events because it's actually fairly exciting to watch things change so abruptly.

RESURRECTING THE CHAMP is easily the best acting in Hartnett's career. And between Black Snake Moan and this film, Jackson is having a pretty great year as well. Some may find the higher-range voice he uses for the Champ to be a little off putting, but after a couple of minutes, it worked for me. I'm not sure how much of the film's final act is 100 percent accurate -- things wrap up just a little too nicely for Erik -- but that doesn't stop the movie from finishing strong.

The film comes from director Rod Lurie, who gave us a few flawed but compelling political thrillers in the last 10 years, including DETERRENCE, THE LAST CASTLE and the best of the bunch, THE CONTENDER. I tend to like Lurie's style, and his straightforward approach to the material suits it perfectly. There's nothing particularly flashy about Champ, and that's perfectly suitable for the tale being told. There's a perfectly constructed scene in which an almost unrecognizable Peter Coyote (who plays an elderly boxing gym owner) makes a couple of quick phone calls with Erik in the room. With each passing second, your heart sinks a little more, a little more, a little more, until a sense of pure dread takes over. The sequence is a thing of beauty, and much of the film takes it cue from that moment. This is an impressive work from a filmmaker who still manages to surprise me.

Capone