Review of Somebody Up There Likes Me (2013) by Mickey S — 12 Jan 2008

Call me a little blasphemous, but isn't Perry Como a little corny? (Says the guy who has absolutely no Italian in his heritage whatsoever.) Okay, I don't really care for boxing movies. Heck, the first two times I saw Raging Bull, I was a little "eh." (I have since changed my opinion. You can continue to respect me.).

I'm plowing through these Paul Newman's and really, this is an eye opener. Yeah, I don't really see Paul Newman being from Queens. But he pulled it off. He really did. Again, this movie wasn't really a surprise for anyone who knew anything about Rocky Graziano, but it was all new for me. Again, biopics, not so big with me, but this movie was charming. Maybe I'm growing soft in my not-so-old-age (as illustrated by one of my readers. I HAVE READERS!), but normally I'd chalk a movie like this up to a Hallmark Channel film. The abused boy falls in with the wrong crowd leading to a life of crime. He begins to earn some respect as a champion boxer when his past comes back to haunt him. Again, being a true story, some elements of the story couldn't be adjusted to make the story a little more moral (ie. ratting on the fixers), but the story is good in itself.

I also find myself in the unique position of critiquing Robert Wise again. For those of you who don't know, this is the chap who refilmed and edited Orson Welles' The Magnificent Ambersons. Yeah, he's always gonna have to work a little harder to get my attention. He does a pretty solid job with Somebody Up There Likes Me, but nothing as memorable as his work on The Sound of Music. But perhaps a biopic of a boxer doesn't really require the epic crane shots over a mountain, so perhaps I'm bound to forgive him a little more than normal. It's not like he's blatently ripping off Stanley Kubrick like he did with Star Trek: The Motion Picture. One of the things that bothered me was the casting of Graziano's wife. I understand that she was supposed to have limited social skills, but she seemed very flat to me throughout the film. I know the part isn't very meaty until the end of the film, but I think this part could have been done a little better.

BUT THE BIG SURPRISE! An uncredited cameo by Steve McQueen! Damn, I love Steve. He's the king of cool and who does he play? A HOOLIGAN! Awesome job, Steve. Awesome.