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A Masterpiece!

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

I went into this film with some wariness knowing that it was a made for TV movie, and as such, it's good but not great. The story itself seems to be told fairly accurately, but when doing sports movies, film makers ought to be more attentive to supplying dates and historical perspective to what's going on. The picture opens with a 1936 Madison Square Garden match, but when it comes time for the anticipated first meeting between Joe Louis and Max Schmeling, well when exactly was it? The same holds true for the Braddock - Louis title fight (6/22/37) and the Louis defense against Schmeling exactly a year later (6/22/38). I know the dates because I just looked it up, but some mention in the picture would have been welcome.Probably the best aspect of the movie, at least for me, was the way it handled the issues of race and in Schmeling's case, the propaganda value of a German upholding the concept of the Master Race. To his credit, Schmeling defied the Nazi regime as ably as he could, and had he been a mediocre athlete, probably would have suffered a meteoric fall from the public eye. The German champ defied Hitler and Goebels by remaining loyal to his Jewish manager, and on the flip side, Joe Jacobs (David Paymer) had to endure accusations of being a traitor to the American cause during the run up to World War II.As for Louis, the film barely scratched the surface of his life and career, but then again, the focus was on the rivalry between two accomplished athletes. Even so, the real life Joe Louis was a notorious womanizer, something that was barely hinted at when his wife Marva (Siena Goines) confronted one of her husband's girlfriends. Often in these sports biopics, sensationalism runs just the opposite, as in 1992's "The Babe" on the career of Babe Ruth starring John Goodman.In my review of the 1953 film "The Joe Louis Story", I voiced the opinion that a modern day treatment of the former champion, if done right, could be a sensational film. Unfortunately this one misses the mark with some eclectic casting and a look that's just a bit too flashy and modern looking in it's representation of the 1930's. Nevertheless it's a watchable story and a fairly good springboard to the careers of Louis and Schmeling for anyone interested in digging deeper.

Always loved sports movie about boxing, from the masterpieces to B-movies about kick-boxing.Joe & Max apparently is a made-for-TV movie, with a low budget and then unpretentious. Perhaps it's so, but does money really matter so much ? I think no. Boxers Joe Louis and Max Schmeling were friends beyond the politics, the obtuse ideologies and war; but rivals just on the ring. The fighting scenes were shot with a look to the old footages, in black and white, gifting a credible appearance to the whole action parts. Interesting the relation between Max and his wife, their spirit of sacrifice against government, racism and the dirty propaganda elevating Joe as Nazism's pride.The stage designing is a little too simple, so the city looks a bit fake, but it's not a damage. An enjoyable mix of sport drama and history inside an "impossible" friendship.

I follow boxing to some extent, and have always been captivated by the Louis-Schmeling fights. However, I was unaware that Max was alive until just a few weeks ago. The movie does a good job based on the fact surrounding and leading up to the fight. As one poster mentioned earlier, they didn't note Max being champ in 1930, I believe. He beat James Braddock by DQ, then defended once, and lost to Braddock in rematch in controversial decision. I highly recommend this movie. The situation these two men were in had to be highly stressful. Louis defending his race and his nation, Max supposedly defending Nazi Germany and the White Race. Neither one appeared comfortable in those roles.

A historical account of boxers Joe Louis vs Max Schmeling, America's democracy vs Hitler's nazis, black race vs white race, sprinkled with the German supremist attitude demonstrated by showing the persecution of jews & blacks. Both fighters are shown to have accomplished careers in the boxing ring, Schmeling becoming the European champion and Louis becoming the World champion. When they meet Schmeling takes the first bout in 1936, and Louis hospitalizes Schmeling in the 1938 rematch. Then problems in Louis' personnel life overshadow his athletic accomplishments culminating in his divorce and insurmountable debt to the IRS. Schmeling survives being hunted in WW II by american GI's who despise him for being perceived as a publicly visible Nazi. He is then hired by post war Coca-Cola as a spokesman and begins living a stable successful life. Max hears of Joe's hard times, locates him and kindles a friendship with his former opponent, which lasts until Joe's death in 1981.The movie fails to deliver. Acting is mediocre, the lines are not compelling; I kept waiting for the movie to "get going", but it never did. The story is historically interesting, but dry in presentation.