Joe and Max (2002)

Expected more

Best movie ever!

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

I went into this film with some wariness knowing that it was a made for TV movie, and as such, it's good but not great. The story itself seems to be told fairly accurately, but when doing sports movies, film makers ought to be more attentive to supplying dates and historical perspective to what's going on. The picture opens with a 1936 Madison Square Garden match, but when it comes time for the anticipated first meeting between Joe Louis and Max Schmeling, well when exactly was it? The same holds true for the Braddock - Louis title fight (6/22/37) and the Louis defense against Schmeling exactly a year later (6/22/38). I know the dates because I just looked it up, but some mention in the picture would have been welcome.Probably the best aspect of the movie, at least for me, was the way it handled the issues of race and in Schmeling's case, the propaganda value of a German upholding the concept of the Master Race. To his credit, Schmeling defied the Nazi regime as ably as he could, and had he been a mediocre athlete, probably would have suffered a meteoric fall from the public eye. The German champ defied Hitler and Goebels by remaining loyal to his Jewish manager, and on the flip side, Joe Jacobs (David Paymer) had to endure accusations of being a traitor to the American cause during the run up to World War II.As for Louis, the film barely scratched the surface of his life and career, but then again, the focus was on the rivalry between two accomplished athletes. Even so, the real life Joe Louis was a notorious womanizer, something that was barely hinted at when his wife Marva (Siena Goines) confronted one of her husband's girlfriends. Often in these sports biopics, sensationalism runs just the opposite, as in 1992's "The Babe" on the career of Babe Ruth starring John Goodman.In my review of the 1953 film "The Joe Louis Story", I voiced the opinion that a modern day treatment of the former champion, if done right, could be a sensational film. Unfortunately this one misses the mark with some eclectic casting and a look that's just a bit too flashy and modern looking in it's representation of the 1930's. Nevertheless it's a watchable story and a fairly good springboard to the careers of Louis and Schmeling for anyone interested in digging deeper.

Always loved sports movie about boxing, from the masterpieces to B-movies about kick-boxing.Joe & Max apparently is a made-for-TV movie, with a low budget and then unpretentious. Perhaps it's so, but does money really matter so much ? I think no. Boxers Joe Louis and Max Schmeling were friends beyond the politics, the obtuse ideologies and war; but rivals just on the ring. The fighting scenes were shot with a look to the old footages, in black and white, gifting a credible appearance to the whole action parts. Interesting the relation between Max and his wife, their spirit of sacrifice against government, racism and the dirty propaganda elevating Joe as Nazism's pride.The stage designing is a little too simple, so the city looks a bit fake, but it's not a damage. An enjoyable mix of sport drama and history inside an "impossible" friendship.

"Joe and Max" tells the true story of two champion boxers who fight each other in the ring while forming a bond of friendship and mutual respect outside the ring. Full of unrealized ironic potential with men of different color finding common ground in a world driven to war in part by racial division, "Joe and Max" has the usual short-comings of made-for-tv docudramas; low budgetness, melodrama, stiff portrayals, poor character development, historical inaccuracies, etc. "Joe and Max" probably has minimal value beyond edification for boxing fans. (C+)

This could have been a great movie. All the elements where there. But this just ended up being too rushed with mediocre acting and uninspiring scenes. And there were a few things that just never happened. Like Schmeling going off on those MP's, oh please. Yes, the Allied occupation authorities did get on Max's case about building without a permit but anybody who's read Max's bio (highly recommended!) would know the issue was resolved peacefully. Max's wife somehow becomes an ego-centric Nazi b*** and the relationship between the movie's namesakes seems cold. Max appears to pity Louis more than he respects him. The extras in the film are notoriously bad, especially the 6'2" (!) Marciano who appears to be TALLER than Louis! And what about Max's experience as a paratrooper in Crete? They spend all of one minute on that. Scenes just flash by. Err, read "Max Schmeling: An Autobigraphy".