The Last Champion

A movie that values hard work, determination, kindness and GOD in 2020!!! Uh, yes please! I would have given it ten stars but gave it nine for the predictability factor, other than that, I was very happy to find this gem tonight. Loved it!

I'm done with all the 'We're all terrible so we're all going to get punished' movies. Enough already. Let's have more like The Last Champion. We all make mistakes, and the main character in this story committed a whopper, but that's just the beginning. The story lies in what it takes to make one's way back.

High School wrestling provides the backdrop for the story, and there are some good depictions of the sport here, better than most I've seen, but this story isn't about wrestling, it's about forgiving yourself, forgiving others, and moving forward with your life.

Cole Hauser doesn't mimic his Yellowstone character, he finds another dimension and goes there. I'm a Rip Wheeler fan, but don't watch this movie because you miss Yellowstone. Watch this movie for the good life lessons that are presented, the great acting, and a moving score.

Filmed in Big Sky country, this is a beautiful tale. Cole Hauser, who has skyrocketed to fame with his work in Yellowstone, delivers a wonderful performance. Also, the great Dan Gable makes a cameo at the end of the film. He would never have been involved with this, if he didn't believe it would not represent amateur wrestling well.

Disgraced former wrestling champ John Wright (Cole Hauser) returns to his hometown. He's an outcast among the town folks. He's back to sell the family home after the death of his mother. Michael Miller is the struggling student wrestler. His mother is a drunk and they are too poor to buy meat. He's caught stealing from the grocery store. When the supportive wrestling coach Frank Stevens dies, John is hired as the new coach.

This filled with emotional melodrama. I would prefer less on-the-nose melodrama. The villains are over-the-top villains. I do appreciate Cole Hauser trying to underplay his performance. It's probably the only way to do his acting in this case. It's good that his personal flaw isn't explained away or passed on to the bad guy. I was half-expecting that the villain had somehow forced John to take the steroids. At its core, this is a very simple story of redemption. Its simplicity is a great strength but it may have contributed to some simplification of the villain characters.

I'm a big fan of films like The Karate Kid and Rudy. I love a good sports movie and Cole Hauser is becoming one of the greats. This is a deeply felt sports drama without the schmaltz that often accompanies films like this. Every performance was authentic the wrestling action was very realistic and I had an easy time following it though I am not too familiar with the sport.