Cinderella Man (2005)

Just saw a preview of this film (opens June 3) and as shamelessly emotional as it is, I liked it very much. It provides a more visceral view of the Great Depression era than did another fine film, Seabiscuit. Call it Seabiscuit with even more heart!

Ron Howard teams with Russell Crowe (James J. Braddock) again and shows they can repeat with a winner. Like him as a person or not, Crowe puts forth another finely tuned, very convincing performance. Unlike in real life, he can be quite humble and sympathetic while beating the heck out of people. Really, his character is affecting, especially in his scenes with Braddock's children, and may be fairly reflective of the actual person of Braddock. (The fight game at that time, or any time, was not for saints but, whatever.) Renee Zellweger, who is not my favorite except for a brilliant portrayal in Cold Mountain, plays the wife effectively and mirrors the emotions for the females in the audience. (If my observations at the showing are typical, women fans will spend time alternately heading their eyes and virtually cheering out loud for Braddock/Crowe.)

There are a number of good supporting actors but Paul Giamatti strikes again! He plays the manager who supports Braddock through thick and thin and his character recalls the era better than anyone in the film. I don't know what kind of research he did for this role but his Joe Gould is the archetypal boxing manager of the time or, at least, our cinema image of one. Here's hoping he pulled some big bucks for a role for once.

(You will certainly recognize Bruce McGill, as the seemingly hard-hearted fight promoter who could care less about Braddock but really doesn't want to see him get killed in the ring, from many movie and TV appearances where he is always reliable and who may be remembered from an early exposure as "D-Day" in Animal House.)

Fmovies: I also went to a sneak preview of this movie last night, and it was good enough for me to join this site and write my first review. It did start out kind of slow, but the complete rainbow of emotions was contained in this movie. There were parts that nearly made you cry. There were parts that made you laugh out loud. I could barely contain my excitement during the last 15-20 minutes of the movie, I just wanted to scream out loud I was so excited. When we left the theater there was a ~60 year old woman delicately shadow boxing on her way out the door. Her husband asked her, "Are you winning?" She said, "I'm going to have dreams about this movie tonight." This was a great movie, and I would recommend it highly.

This is the best film Ron Howard has ever done. They really caught lightning in a bottle with this one. All the departments brought their A game to the table. I especially loved the editing and cinematography.

The cast is perfect and, under Ron Howard's confident hand, all give amazing performances. Russel Crowe's soulful performance puts him back in Maximus territory here and, boy, was this cat born to play these types of roles. Bruce McGill is in it (San Antonio, represent!!!) and that's always a good thing.

My only complaint (if it can be called that) is that the boxing sequences break no new ground. They are very reminiscent of the boxing sequences in Raging Bull. They are so well executed, however, that I quickly forgot about this small nitpick.

The script works on so many levels, it's not even funny. There is plenty of time devoted to character development and it pays off handsomely in the long run as we really care about Jim Braddock every time he steps in the ring.

All in all, Cinderella Man is a rousing, classy film that utterly satisfies.

Cinderella Man fmovies. If the great depression of the 1930s is a mystery to you, then Cinderella Man can fix that. The story, about the ups and downs in the career of a boxer, is uplifting and entertaining. However, what makes this film more than that is its believable depiction of the great depression.

The sets look similar to pictures I have seen in books I read about the depression, and the costumes are correct. But this is not just a "period piece." The behavior of everyone in the cast, and every extra, shows dedication to reproducing the gestures and attitudes I have observed in people I have personally known who lived through the depression.

Take, for example, the scene at the dock where Braddock, the boxer, waits with dozens of other men for the chance to work a stevedore job for the day. "We need ten," shouts the boss. Then he points, and counts. Every eye is trying to meet his, trying to be picked. Not a gesture is out of place.

This kind of verisimilitude comes only from fanatics for accuracy. Look at drector Ron Howard and male lead Russell Crowe. Ron Howard also directed Cocoon, Willow, and -- for the Academy Award for Best Director and the Academy Award for Best Picture -- A Beautiful Mind, which also starred Crowe. He drove the set designers, the costumers, the cast, and the extras, with telling effect. Nothing is over-acted.

Crowe trained for the film using the same, low-tech methods used in boxing in the 1930s. He also studied film footage of Braddock to master the real fighter's characteristic gestures. In the ring, said one of Crowe's trainers, he successfully duplicated Braddock's moves, his footwork, and his style.

The boxing drives the story along. It is bloody, fierce boxing. Some people may find the fight scenes objectionably violent. Crowe broke his hand in training. Real fighters played most of his opponents. Sometimes they forgot they were supposed to fake punches, leading to the spilling of real blood, which was left in the final version. Crowe also landed a few real punches by mistake.

The boxing, however, is overshadowed by life during the depression. Millions were out of work. Milk was delivered in bottles, by a milk man. People left their empty milk bottles out at night so the milk man could collect them early the next morning, and replace them with full bottles. When the dairy could no longer extend a family's credit, the empty bottles were still there in the morning with a note of apology stuck in the mouth of one of them.

During the depression, there was no unemployment insurance, no Medicaid, and no Social Security. There was the dole, but it was new, humiliating, and under funded. You cold not get enough to keep your family fed and clothed.

Braddock is shown waiting for and getting his dole, another moving scene in which everyone is stoically in character. The film also accurately depicts the huge gap that opened between the masses of the poor, and the few, fabulously wealthy.

This is a very entertaining film. However, if you are just beginning to study the great depression, it can be a a great head start.

Before I get to whether or not I liked this film, the history teacher in me thinks it's very important to set the record straight. Although the film is pretty accurate when it comes to the career of James Braddock, it's very inaccurate in portraying his opponent, Max Baer. The champion, Baer, is shown as a sadistic jerk who killed two men while boxing--and really delighted in taunting Braddock about this. In the film, the evil and filthy-mouthed Baer tells Braddock to bow out of the fight, as he could be the next to die in the ring--and he really seems to LIKE tormenting Braddock's wife about this. In reality, Baer killed one man in the ring. It was a horrible accident which occasionally happens in boxing--one which apparently haunted Baer for the rest of his life. In fact, he helped pay for his dead opponents to get educations and looked after this family--hardly the act of a sadist. I understand why the folks who made "Cinderella Man" changed this in an attempt to create tension, but the story would have STILL worked great if it had just stuck to the truth. Plus, think of how this film affected Baer's relatives when they saw it. Max Baer Jr. ('Jethro' from "The Beverly Hillbillies") knew his father was not like this and I am sure it pained him to see him so badly misrepresented.

As for the NON-Baer parts of the film, they are great. The look of the 1930s is exceptional--much more realistic than you often see in films. Also, the acting is terrific, the film VERY engaging and the story of Braddock very compelling. Without the misrepresentation of Baer's in the story, I would have given this one a 10. Really....it's that compelling and they did a great job. The acting, direction, designs...everything but the writing was perfect.

By the way, this isn't so much a complaint as an observation. In this movie, like practically EVERY other boxing movie, there is hardly any defense (such as blocked shots) in the boxing matches--punch after punch that lands on the opponent. If fights REALLY were like this, they'd rarely go beyond the first round!

This is a truly great film. Russel Crowe, Rene Zellweger and Paul Giametti were all fabulous. Russell Crowe is the best actor of our time. I am not a boxing fan, but I was so engrossed by the character of the Cinderalla Man that I was totally involved in every punch. I didn't know how the story would end, so I had the added thrill of suspense during the final fight.

The story of a family in the midst of the Great Depression was as compelling as the boxing story. The solid family man played by Russell gives us a much needed role model. The historical and socio-economic background was powerfully shown and greatly added to the audience's involvement and is particularly relevant to today. This is a classic film.