Top 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsMost Popular Video GamesMost Popular Music VideosMost Popular Podcasts
    Release CalendarBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersEmmysSTARmeter AwardsSan Diego Comic-ConNew York Comic-ConSundance Film FestivalToronto Int'l Film FestivalAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Chuck

Original title: The Bleeder
  • 20162016
  • RR
  • 1h 38m
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
6.5K
YOUR RATING
Liev Schreiber in Chuck (2016)
The real life inspiration for Rocky Balboa, Chuck Wepner (Liev Schreiber) was a liquor salesman and father with a modest prizefighting career whose life changed overnight when, in 1975, he was chosen to take on The Greatest in a highly publicized title match.
Play trailer1:30
3 Videos
19 Photos
BiographyDramaSport
A drama inspired by the life of heavyweight boxer Chuck Wepner, who had a once-in-a-lifetime bout with Muhammad Ali that would inspire the film Rocky (1976).A drama inspired by the life of heavyweight boxer Chuck Wepner, who had a once-in-a-lifetime bout with Muhammad Ali that would inspire the film Rocky (1976).A drama inspired by the life of heavyweight boxer Chuck Wepner, who had a once-in-a-lifetime bout with Muhammad Ali that would inspire the film Rocky (1976).
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
6.5K
YOUR RATING
    • Philippe Falardeau
  • Writers
    • Jeff Feuerzeig
    • Jerry Stahl
    • Michael Cristofer
  • Stars
    • Liev Schreiber
    • Elisabeth Moss
    • Ron Perlman
    • Philippe Falardeau
  • Writers
    • Jeff Feuerzeig
    • Jerry Stahl
    • Michael Cristofer
  • Stars
    • Liev Schreiber
    • Elisabeth Moss
    • Ron Perlman
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 32User reviews
    • 74Critic reviews
    • 68Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Videos3

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 1:30
    Watch Official Trailer
    Chuck
    Clip 1:14
    Watch Chuck
    Chuck
    Clip 0:42
    Watch Chuck

    Photos19

    Liev Schreiber in Chuck (2016)
    Liev Schreiber in Chuck (2016)
    Liev Schreiber in Chuck (2016)
    Ron Perlman, Liev Schreiber, Elisabeth Moss, and Naomi Watts in Chuck (2016)
    Liev Schreiber, Elisabeth Moss, and Sadie Sink in Chuck (2016)
    Liev Schreiber in Chuck (2016)
    Chuck Premiere Los Angeles 2017
    Catherine Corcoran in Chuck (2016)
    Catherine Corcoran in Chuck (2016)
    Marissa Rose Gordon and Steven Shapiro at the premiere of The Bleeder.
    Liev Schreiber and Edward Carnevale in Chuck (2016)
    "The Announcer" in the movie Chuck.

    Top cast

    Edit
    Liev Schreiber
    Liev Schreiber
    • Chuck Wepner
    Elisabeth Moss
    Elisabeth Moss
    • Phyliss Wepner
    Ron Perlman
    Ron Perlman
    • Al Braverman
    Naomi Watts
    Naomi Watts
    • Linda
    Jim Gaffigan
    Jim Gaffigan
    • John
    Michael Rapaport
    Michael Rapaport
    • Don Wepner
    Pooch Hall
    Pooch Hall
    • Muhammad Ali
    Morgan Spector
    Morgan Spector
    • Sylvester Stallone
    Jason Jones
    Jason Jones
    • Arty
    William Hill
    William Hill
    • Paddy
    Wass Stevens
    Wass Stevens
    • Johnny Dicesare
    Kelvin Hale
    Kelvin Hale
    • Charlie Polite
    Megan Sikora
    Megan Sikora
    • Flo Wepner
    Emil Tonev
    • Fight Ref
    Georgia Ximenes Lifsher
    Georgia Ximenes Lifsher
    • Rachel
    Catherine Corcoran
    Catherine Corcoran
    • Sandy
    Sadie Sink
    Sadie Sink
    • Kimberly
    Melo Ludwig
    Melo Ludwig
    • Young Kimberly (6 Years Old)
      • Philippe Falardeau
    • Writers
      • Jeff Feuerzeig
      • Jerry Stahl
      • Michael Cristofer
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    More like this

    Bleed for This
    6.8
    Bleed for This
    Hands of Stone
    6.6
    Hands of Stone
    Filly Brown
    5.6
    Filly Brown
    Long Lost
    5.1
    Long Lost
    Septembers of Shiraz
    6.2
    Septembers of Shiraz
    The Real Rocky
    7.1
    The Real Rocky
    The Corrupted
    5.7
    The Corrupted
    The Stonebreaker
    5.9
    The Stonebreaker
    The Glass Castle
    7.1
    The Glass Castle
    A Buddy Story
    6.1
    A Buddy Story
    American Odyssey
    7.3
    American Odyssey
    Return to Nuke 'Em High Volume 1
    5.3
    Return to Nuke 'Em High Volume 1

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Christina Hendricks was cast alongside Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber back in 2011 when the project was announced. Hendricks dropped out while the film was stuck in development and eventually Elisabeth Moss replaced her.
    • Goofs
      Chuck Wepner served his prison time in East Jersey State Prison in Rahway, NJ, not Northern State Prison in Newark, NJ, as depicted in the movie. This is where he met Sylvester Stallone while filming "Lock Up" in 1989.
    • Quotes

      Chuck Wepner: What good was backing up gonna do? Look, my thing was this: I couldn't hit him, so I figured I'd wear him down with my face. It was working great for five or six rounds...

    • Connections
      Featured in The Cine-Masochist: CHUCK WEPNER VS ROCKY BALBOA (2021)

    User reviews32

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    8/10
    "Chuck" is a very entertaining and long-overdue movie.
    Sylvester Stallone has denied that his character of Rocky Balboa was inspired by heavyweight boxer Chuck Wepner, who fought professionally from 1964 to 1978. Well, let's just take a look at some of what happens in the "Rocky" movies, shall we? In the original "Rocky" (1976), an unknown white boxer was plucked from obscurity and given a shot at the heavyweight title by a flamboyant black champion. No one gave Chuck, er, I mean, no one gave "Rocky" much of a chance, but he trained hard (old-school) and greatly exceeded expectations during the fight. In "Rocky III" (1982), Rocky gets in the boxing ring for a match against a hulking professional wrestler and, at one point, the wrestler picks Rocky up and drops him to the ground outside the ropes. In "Rocky IV" (1985), Rocky watched James Brown sing from inside the ring before a match. In the career of what real life boxer did all those things happen? Chuck Wepner. Who wrote and starred in all six "Rocky" movies? Sylvester Stallone. It's no wonder that Wepner called himself "the real Rocky". Likewise, it's no wonder that the bio-pic dramedy "Chuck" (R, 1:38) was made to tell Wepner's story. I could say more about the details in common between the careers of Rocky and Chuck, but trying to avoid spoilers (in case you don't know Chuck's story), I'll just refer you to something Chuck says in the movie: "You don't know me. Well, you know me, but you don't know you know me." It's worth mentioning up front that this isn't the story of the making of "Rocky". "Chuck" is about Chuck. The release of "Rocky" changed Chuck's life, but he was the same person before, during and after his proverbial 15 minutes of fame. Chuck worked as a liquor distributor to pay the bills. He was a boxer because it was what he did best. He wasn't the quickest, strongest or most successful heavyweight of his day, but he could take a punch. In fact, he could take a whole lot of punches (a beating, really) and keep coming back for more. They called him the Bayonne Bleeder. He hated the name, but he loved the fame. Chuck enjoyed being recognized and treated special – especially by the ladies. Never mind that he had a devoted wife, Phyliss (Elisabeth Moss), and a loving daughter, Kimberly (Sadie Sink), back home… growing increasingly frustrated by the selfish and neglectful way that Chuck was treating them.

    Chuck's life changed forever in 1975. After Muhammad Ali took the world heavyweight title from George Foreman in the fight known as "the Rumble in the Jungle", Ali said he wanted to fight "a white guy". Since Chuck was the only white guy among the top 10 ranked heavyweight boxers in the world, his manager (Ron Perlman) took care of the details and Chuck Wepner, little known outside of New Jersey, got a shot at the title. For this first time in his career, he trained full time for this fight which took place near Cleveland, OH. Chuck's performance against Ali (Pooch Hall) increased his celebrity greatly. Then he became even more famous the following year when the new movie "Rocky" seemed to mirror his life, especially regarding the Ali fight. As Chuck tried to take advantage of being the guy who inspired the 1976 Best Picture Oscar winner by reaching out to Sylvester Stallone himself, Chuck was also increasing his selfish behaviors, using cocaine and pursuing even more women, including a local bartender named Linda (Naomi Watts), who didn't want anything to do with him… a sentiment now shared by Phyliss.

    "Chuck" is a very entertaining and long-overdue movie. Chuck Wepner's story is indeed the stuff of Hollywood – in the "Rocky" movies – and in this movie which reveals Chuck's story to be as interesting as Rocky's. This film had four writers whose combined efforts really do the story justice. They are Jeff Feuerzeig (known mainly for writing and directing documentaries… including "The Real Rocky" for ESPN), Jerry Stahl (mainly a TV show writer, he also wrote 2003's "Bad Boys II"), Michael Cristofer ("Original Sin", "Bonfire of the Vanities", "The Witches of Eastwick") and Live Schreiber, who, besides being the film's star and co-writer, also helped produce. The screenplay focuses on the drama, but has an effective and organic humor about it. In the hands of director Philippe Falardeau (who directed Reese Witherspoon's 2014 film "The Good Lie"), and in the practically perfect performance of Schreiber, this film portrays the most eventful decade of Chuck's life without judgment, showing his highs and his lows, and never loses sight of his humanity. Another quote from the movie sums it up nicely: "Sometimes life is like a movie. And sometimes it's better." This film is better than most. "A-"
    helpful•21
    6
    • dave-mcclain
    • May 20, 2017

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • May 5, 2017 (United States)
      • United States
      • English
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Sofia, Bulgaria
    • Production companies
      • Millennium Films
      • Mandalay Sports Media (MSM)
      • Campbell Grobman Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • 1 hour 38 minutes

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Liev Schreiber in Chuck (2016)
    Top Gap
    What is the French language plot outline for Chuck (2016)?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.