Carman: The Champion
Carman: The Champion
| 02 March 2001 (USA)
Carman: The Champion Trailers

Former champion boxer Orlando Leone (Carmen) is "The Preacher" at an inner-city youth center. Wanting to give something back to the community, he bought a large building for a church youth center. But the cash ran out before he could finish fixing it up and now, the mortgage company is about to foreclose. With his bills mounting he agrees to one last fight.

Reviews
Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic
SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction
filippaberry84 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.
Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
breezygirl You may have seen Carman on Christian television networks preaching or explaining eternal damnation in vivid detail. He is also known in the Christian community for his varied music styles -- everything from southern gospel to rap. Yes, rap. This seems to be his attempt at a more mainstream type of "Christian" movie. I don't know that this movie received any type of mainstream success. What surprised me the most about this movie is how watered down the Christian message is. I would have expected Carman to pull out all the stops, fitting the salvation message in every nook and cranny. In place of a specifically Christian message is a predictable schlocky tale of a former boxer trying to help kids without a chance. Various thug stereotypes are intermixed throughout, along with some romance with a single mom.There is pretty much no value to this movie besides some actors that got a paycheck. It's just bad enough; but not enough for much MST3K-type commentary. If you are going to go the christian route, find a film that's about the life of Jesus. Otherwise, who cares? You can watch an episode of "Saved by the Bell" and at least that is marginally funny and has about the same quality of a message.
dancemanfilms It was a good story, "we all connect with a fighter in a ring." A little cheesy and a few holes, but it was something to sit and watch that didn't feel like a complete waste of time. Sloppy editing and some poor directing choices burned it including a disapearing puppy and a one date marrage proposal. Some good action in the ring with hard felt punches. You'll never guess who wins the final fight (sarcasm)and you'll never be able to guess why the bitter rivals are hugging eachother after one knocks the other out (no seriously, why would they do that?) The book is better and makes more sense, somebody thought they'd give it a happy ending and that make it better but it just made it too cliche. Rent for the kids don't buy. Buy the book and read it.
wayne-91 A former world-champion boxer moonlights as a hotel security guard to help pay for his "hobby" gig, a drop-in youth center? Okay, but why does center have to be three stories high? And how is it that when the star appears in the hotel luxury suite to break up a rowdy party, nobody recognizes him-- even though the party is hosted by the PRESENT world-champion boxer? Ugh. There are about eleven seconds of "actual entertainment" in this paint-by-numbers effort, contained in two scenes where the star flirts with the leading lady. How much acting talent does THAT require? I can't believe I sat thru this whole movie.
allenman This was a wonderful film, I was completely surprised on how well it was done. The story was very good, and the action scenes were much more realistic that those of the "Rocky" series. The film contained some scenes that were a little intense but it fits the real world. Wonderful job!I want to see it again, and also get the film on video.