Cinderella Man Delivers More Than Body Blows

Rating: 8/10 (11 June 2005)

Cinderella Man, director Ron Howard's newest film, raises your spirit, along with your blood pressure, as you watch the talented actor Russell Crowe take, and give, tremendous beatings in the boxing ring.
As the ultimate rags to riches story, this film, which tracks the comeback career of boxing legend Jimmy Braddock, is not only about a man's man, and a man's sport, it also jerks those tears until they stream down your face. I predict box office gold: this is the ultimate summer date movie. And yes, even my teenager liked it.
Be aware that the movie has more than a tad of violence. It is about boxing after all. Or is it? This is sports legend come to life with a plot that gave first life to the phrase "Cinderella story." Russell Crowe does his stoic warrior best and Paul Giamatti (late of the movie Sideways) is remarkable in his performance as Joe Gould, the boxer Braddock's trainer/manager. Giamatti's everyman face, his exuberance and pain, are all up there on the screen. His performance alone is worth the price of admission. Give this man an Oscar already! At times this movie can be hard to take: The fact that it is based on a true story is not lost on the audience; in fact, it makes the Depression-era scenes of sacrifice and deprivation that much sharper, that more painful. And in these days of (let's not yet call it a) Recession, the faces of the unemployed at the New Jersey Relief office take on a familiarity very close to home.
Renee Zellweger's performance is admirable despite being trapped in the paper doll role of loyal wife. In a scene where she and her children salvage wood from a roadside billboard in order to stay warm, her character shows true grit and determination, not the expected shame or lack of pride. I would match this film against John Ford's Grapes of Wrath for its gritty and unflinching portrayal of survival in the Great Depression and the subtle art of conveying dignity in the face of true desperation.
Rated PG-13 for intense boxing violence and some language. Take everyone over age 14. This is a movie made to be seen on the large screen  the close-ups and camera angles put you inside each fight (which explains why I spent a lot of time looking at the floor!)