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Cinderella Man
Directed by: Ron Howard
Starring: Russell Crowe
Genre:
Drama/Action-Adventure
Run Time: 144
min.
Release Date: June
2005
On The Web:
Official
Site
Teaser:
Movie Trailer
Reviewed by
Byron Merritt |
CINDERELLA MAN is
the story of human victory over seemingly impossible odds. Russell Crowe
plays legendary boxer James J. Braddock in Ron Howard's well directed
film based on the life of this astounding man.
Set during the Great Depression the film takes on the tone of loss as we
witness Braddock's initial rise in the boxing ring and then his rapid
decline during the disastrous economic punch that landed a low-blow to
America. Millions are out of work and on the street. Families are ripped
apart. But Braddock and his wife Mae (played by Renee Zellweger) will do
anything to keep their heads above water while remaining morally
upstanding citizens.
Like many families, the Braddocks have to sell just about everything to
stay alive. And once everything of value is gone, Braddock has to work
at the back-breaking docks, but even that's not enough to sustain them.
Braddock is forced to beg for money from acquaintances, and this is a
terribly humiliating event to watch. But if that wasn't enough, he has
to go to the government office for public assistance.
Then a glimmer of hope arrives. His old manager Joe Gould (the awesomely
intense Paul Giamoti) offers him one last fight with a heavyweight title
contender. The assumption is that Braddock will lose, not having trained
for months and having eaten only scraps off the street. But Braddock
wins, re-launching his career and eventually getting a shot at Max Baer,
the champ who's blows have killed two men already.
History tells us that Braddock wins this fight, to the surprise of the
then boxing commission and to the joy of millions of downtrodden
Americans.
More interesting than the crunching blows and bloody fights are the
surrounding circumstances of what America was going through at the time
and how Braddock held his head high (at least as high as he could) in
such trying times.
Getting a myopic view of family life during this time was a powerful way
to present such a rags to riches story. The costumes and sets were
spot-on period perfect and completely immersed the viewer in the times.
Filming the struggling family pulled the movie-watcher close to the
Braddocks and gave a sense of empathy that few directors can match these
days. And the brutal boxing scenes were painful to watch. I flinched
several times, wanting to look away but unable to for fear of missing
something.
Having lavished such praise on this film, I have to comment on the
cookie-cutout cinema Mr. Howard chooses to shoot (you remember APOLLO
13 and A BEAUTIFUL MIND, right?) Although I enjoy these
heart-wrenching and uplifting movies, I do wish that Mr. Howard could
break out of that mold and produce something beyond the mainstream.
But make no mistake, this is an intense movie with graphic depictions of
Braddock landing obscenely hard blows ...and taking them, too. The
greatness of the actual filming cannot be denied but the commonality of
it won't surprise those who've seen a Ron Howard film in the past.
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Image from Cinderella Man
DVD cost: $20.99
Purchase:
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Film Review Stew
Favorite? No.
Stew Poo-Poo? No.
Newsworthy:
Professional boxers played
Braddock's opponents. They were told to land their blows as close to
Crowe's body as possible. Unfortunately, they sometimes couldn't pull
back in time and ended up injuring Crowe.
Movie Quote: "I
know these days not everybody gets a second chance."
Other Actors/Actresses
from Cinderella Man
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