PG | 2 h 2 min | Drama | 1979
An over-the-hill boxer, Billy “The Champ” Flynn (Jon Voight) treasures his 8-year-old son, Timothy Joseph or T.J. (Ricky Schroder), while battling his vices of gambling and drinking.
Estranged for seven years on account of her careerism and now remarried, the boy’s mother, Annie (Faye Dunaway), suddenly tries to get T.J. back into her life, propped up by opulence that Billy can only dream of providing their boy.
(L–R) Annie (Faye Dunaway), Billy Flynn (Jon Voight), and T.J. (Ricky Schroeder), in “The Champ.” (United Artists)
In turn, T.J. worships Billy and idolizes his boxing exploits years after they’ve faded. Reassuringly for Billy, T.J. is also unmoved by the allure of Annie’s affluence. Still, desperate to hold on to his boy, Billy gives up gambling and drinking. He hopes that his comeback boxing match will rake in big money and secure the boy’s future with him, rather than with his, until now uncaring, mother….