The real story of these 2 boxing legends would take a TV series a few years to give it justice.This Starrz movie released in 2002 tries it in 106 minutes with a so so cast and a poor choice for the actor,Leonard Roberts as Joe Louis,who doesn't have the screen presence to portray such a legendary figure.However the story of these two men is so compelling that we should be happy for at least this effort by Starrz and enjoy it as such.Til Schweiger as Max Schmeling is a bit more believable since less is known by most about him.He was vilified as a "Nazi"and so this film tries to redefine that image of him and rightly so.Not shown in this film is the fact he helped paid for Joes funeral and although he is shown helping a Jewish neighbor in the film,the story is more compelling then shown.In total the film is a good start but the fact the IRS hounded Joe till his death is indeed a story for our times.Nether Joe or Max with without sin,but they were both heros and deserve to be remembered.
Review of Joe and Max
