Few people in the last century have led a life worth retelling more than Harry Haft (born Hertzka Haft in 1925), a Polish-Jewish boxer who somehow managed to survive Auschwitz and the Holocaust. This is why his biopic is aptly but unimaginatively titled The Survivor. Directed by Barry Levinson (The Natural, Rain Man) and starring an inimitable Ben Foster, this HBO Original film follows Haft from his time brawling in Nazi death camps until his post-boxing days in the 1960s. While Haft’s life-story is perhaps a layup in terms of drama and intensity, it’s definitely not an easy one to tell in two hours. Despite an admirable attempt, Levinson and screenwriter Justine Juel Gillmer don’t quite do his life justice.

Within the first few minutes, The Survivor transitions from color to black-and-white for the first time, signaling to its viewers that they’ve traveled back to World War 2 and the Holocaust. Like its title, this technique is fitting albeit a bit uninspired. I didn’t really care, however, because the black-and-white imagery in this movie is absolutely stunning, even though the content portrayed during these sequences is very disturbing. I have to give the filmmakers credit here; they don’t waste time establishing how horrible Haft’s experiences were in the early 1940s. A lot of care went into crafting the scenes set in the Auschwitz and Jaworzno concentration camps, and I really appreciated how dedicated the filmmakers were to getting it as right as possible.

In these camps, Haft is presented a unique but harrowing opportunity by SS Officer Dietrich Schneider, played by a convincing Billy Magnussen. Haft can either die with the rest of his Jewish counterparts, or learn to box and fight his fellow inmates to the death.* Obviously, Haft chooses the latter, leading to a number of brutal bare-knuckle fight sequences, as well as some thought-provoking scenes involving Haft and Schneider. My personal favorite is one in which Schneider, who’s undeniably a monster, considers whether or not the “Final Solution” was the best route for Nazi Germany. Schneider may not realize it, but he inadvertently admits to being powerless to his thuggish overlords, in the same way that Haft is powerless to him. It’s an intriguing parallel that I wish the film delved into more, but I’m also pleased that it was touched on at all.

To clarify, these black-and-white scenes are interspersed throughout The Survivor’s two-hour runtime, rather than running concurrently. In between them, we follow Haft’s life at two different points. In the first two acts of the film, it’s the late 1940s and Haft is a formerly successful boxer who’s in the midst of an ongoing losing streak.** You’d think that he’d want to retire, but there’s a catch. Though he definitely doesn’t deserve it, Haft is desperate for a big fight. His hope is that having one will draw the attention of his long-lost love, Leah (Dar Zuzovsky), who he believes survived the Holocaust as well. In comes journalist Emory Anderson (Peter Sarsgaard), who offers Haft the opportunity to tell his tale to the world, or at least the east coast. Haft accepts, the article is written, and none other than world champion-hopeful Rocky Marciano takes notice.

Although The Survivor seems to be about boxing, it’s really about Haft’s life and relationships between fights. Take his relationship with Emory Anderson for example, one in which Anderson gets to capitalize on Haft’s tale without any regard for what it means for him. Sure, Haft is no fool; he’s aware that his history may turn his people against him. Still, it’s difficult to watch him lay bare his past to a journalist and society that’s mostly oblivious to what he endured. And since we know that the “choice” Haft was given wasn’t really a choice at all, it makes it impossible to feel anything but sympathy for him. You’ll just want to see this guy live a happy, normal life. I, for one, found these scenes to be very emotionally challenging, and I credit the actors and filmmakers for mining them for all their worth.

In the second act, The Survivor bounces back and forth between Haft training while also working with Miriam Wofsoniker (Vicky Krieps) to track down Leah. I really enjoyed these scenes for what they offer. Haft and Miriam have an interesting relationship, one that starts as practical and platonic but has the potential for more. However, the most fun to be had comes from the boxing scenes, particularly the training leading up to the Marciano fight. This is where Danny DeVito and Paul Bates hop in for short but memorable scenes as Haft’s trainers. I loved this section of the second act, but it comes and goes, and soon after that, the movie reminds you that boxing is secondary to what it’s trying to be and say.

Then there’s the film’s third and longest act, which shifts The Survivor toward what it seems to want to be, even though its first two acts were considerably more entertaining. The story jumps to the early 1960s, when Haft has retired and settled down. Instead of boxing, he now deals with mundane family issues, and the scenes themselves are similarly mundane to watch. But then Haft is given the opportunity to settle some unfinished business, and things start to pick up again. This is where the film began to lose me a bit, as each successive scene became increasingly oversentimental, all the way up to a final one that made my eyes roll.***

I won’t mince my words: the third act of this film is pretty bad. It was like each scene had to be as maudlin as possible, in an award-baiting kind of way. What’s worse is that it felt like the filmmakers were embellishing Haft’s story, one that was already incredibly dramatic otherwise. I haven’t read his biography upon which The Survivor is based, so I can’t say for certain if this is embellishment or not. Either way, the fact that it felt it was is unacceptable regardless. The third act does contain the film’s two most dramatically poignant scenes, but they’re bookended by ones that derail their emotional resonance.****

Ben Foster is this film’s saving grace, as his performance makes every scene worth watching, including the sappy ones. Foster has always been an actor who goes the extra mile to alter himself for a role, but this time he takes it to an extreme. His accent alone must’ve taken an astounding amount of work to master. In the Holocaust scenes, he’s incredibly gaunt and worn-out, which must’ve required an extreme diet to achieve. In stark contrast, in the late 1940s boxing scenes, he’s pretty broad and muscular. And then in the 1960s… well, he looks like present-day Sean Penn, but that’s because of some makeup. Regardless, he always commands the screen with a nuanced, heartbreaking performance. The supporting cast is first-rate too, but without Foster, this film wouldn’t be worth its runtime.

To conclude, The Survivor is an inconsistent look into the life of a remarkable man. Its first and second acts feature an engaging mix of character drama, boxing scenes, and distressing flashbacks. Sadly, its third act devolves into scene after scene of overdramatic schmaltz, and the only reason it’s not outright unwatchable is the terrific performance by Foster. There are some solid scenes toward the end, but too many of them feel like embellishment. It’s like the filmmakers set out to dramatize a life that was already unbelievably dramatic. Harry Haft undoubtedly deserved a better biopic, but at least he got Ben Foster in what could be a career-defining role.*****

If I had to score it, I’d give The Survivor a 6/10.

Notes:

* While imperfect, The Survivor does a decent job pondering these questions: Was it right for Harry to fight and kill his fellow Jews in order to survive? Was their more dignity dying in the ring than in the camps? And was Harry doing the men he killed a favor, i.e. was it mercy? These are all interesting and tough questions.

** It struck me as bizarre that this film featured a boxing story about a fighter who’s not particularly good, at least not anymore. Choosing to showcase the end of his career and not his best days was a bold decision, one I’m not quite sure paid off. The marketing probably shouldn’t have emphasized the boxing aspect of this movie as much as it did.

*** For some reason, the filmmakers shoehorned in an excessively sentimental scene involving the song “God Bless America” near the end. Since there’s not really an attempt to be overtly patriotic at any point beforehand, it just felt awkward and misguided.

**** The Survivor nearly ended on a pitch-perfect moment that could’ve altered my entire opinion of the third act, and thusly the film. I said nearly because, like most scenes in the third act, the filmmakers tried to heighten the emotional impact unnecessarily, detracting from the beauty and grace they had already crafted. It’s truly a shame.

***** When the movie ended, I couldn’t help but consider what The Survivor could’ve been like if it had focused on one section of Haft’s life rather than three. The well-shot Holocaust scenes stood out the most, so perhaps that’s where the film should’ve spent the majority of its time. Sure, doing so would’ve cut out a lot of Haft’s story, but by focusing on three stages of his life, the movie overextended itself. It ends up as a jack of all trades, master of none type of story. Again, a real shame.