Cinderella Man - Ray's Review

Cinderella Man (2005)
144 min

Directed by Ron Howard

Written by Cliff Hollingsworth and Akiva Goldsman

Starring:
Russell Crowe .... Jim Braddock
Renée Zellweger .... Mae Braddock
Paul Giamatti .... Joe Gould
Craig Bierko .... Max Baer
Paddy Considine .... Mike Wilson
Bruce McGill .... Jimmy Johnston

Official Synopsis:

"Crowe stars in the story inspired by the life of legendary athlete Jim Braddock, a once-promising light heavyweight boxer forced into retirement after a string of losses in the ring. As the nation enters the darkest years of the Great Depression, Braddock accepts a string of dead-end jobs to support his wife, Mae (Renée Zellweger), and their children, while never totally abandoning his dream of boxing again.

Thanks to a last minute cancellation, Braddock finds himself back in the ring against the second-ranked world contender - and to everyone's amazement, Braddock wins in the third round. Despite being pounds lighter than his opponents and repeated injuries to his hands, Braddock continues to fight against challengers and win. Carrying on his shoulders the hopes and dreams of the disenfranchised masses, Braddock, dubbed the "Cinderella Man," faces his toughest challenger in Max Baer (Craig Bierko), the heavyweight champion of the world, renowned for having killed two men in the ring."

Ray's Opinion:

I went into Cinderella Man expecting a "hero" film similar in vein to Gladiator and Master and Commander... I couldn't have been more wrong. Cinderella Man shares nothing in common with them other than its period setting, and Russell Crowe turning in another highly controlled and fascinating performance. What makes Cinderella Man so different to his past heroic roles is that Jim Braddock doesn't see himself as a hero at all, he merely fights "for milk" as he puts it. So don't go into this expecting big, dramatic speeches from Crowe and you will be pleasantly surprised by his complex portrayal of a man who is essentially good. Like Roger Ebert said in his review; playing a man who is basically a really good guy is a hard thing to do without making him sentimental and uninteresting, but Crowe pulls it off and reminds one of past "nice guys" like James Stewart and Cary Grant.

This is a rich looking film, beautifully shot, with every object and room telling its own story. I'm not usually a huge fan of Ron Howard's style, but this time he finally managed to connect with me emotionally. This would easily be my favourite Ron Howard film because I didn't feel as manipulated as I did in A Beautiful Mind and Apollo 13. Cinderella Man feels honest, and was carried by Crowe's believable performance, ably supported by the always reliable character actor Paul Giamatti and the pursed lipped Renée Zellweger - whom I enjoyed in this, after having only recently warmed to her persona in Down With Love.

I can't stress enough how simple this film is. In fact, it almost felt too simple when the credits rolled and I felt a little underwhelmed with the whole thing. But a few days later a funny thing happened; the film lingered in my mind and the mood stayed with me. As I thought back through it I realised I could remember it all, every single scene was there in my mind, ready to be plucked out. I think this is testament to its strong atmosphere and striking imagery. Perhaps it's the straight forwardness of the story telling that enabled its images to be burned into my consciousness so clearly? Whatever the case, I like it when the scenes play out in my head.

The boxing is well done and somehow managed to not feel generic, which could easily be the case with so many Rocky films having played out almost all possible boxing scenarios. The 30's setting helped to make it unique, but primarily it was Ron Howard's approach to it all. It's hard for me to pin down exactly what he did differently to other boxing films and for once I am lost for descriptive reasons as to its success in this area. Maybe it was because I cared for Jim Braddock more than I ever did for Rocky? One thing that I think works against it is that it goes to so much trouble making us care for Jim and his wife and three children, that when the violence kicks in it may alienate some people - particularly females - who up until the brutal boxing scenes were more invested in the emotional aspects of the story. I like boxing so this wasn't an issue, but I did notice some women sitting near me became agitated when the fights went on too long. Also I felt the portrayal of the heavyweight champion - the main antagonist - was a little too comical and detracted from all the hard work they had put into making Jim Braddock a realistic character.

Overall, Cinderella Man is a highly atmospheric film that not only gave me a look into the life of a sports hero I'd never heard of, but also illustrated the tragedy of the depression era in vivid and moving detail. The family scenes are will done and fairly believable - this is Hollywood after all - and the relationship between Jim and his trainer (Paul Giamatti) is a joy to watch. The boxing scenes are incredibly involving and you will be rooting for Jim right up to the bitter end. I find it surprising that Cinderella Man wasn't successful commercially, when it was so well received critically.

8/10