Braddock's underdog story receives good treatment by Howard

Rating: 7/10 (26 June 2005)

Studios have made more than their share of films dealing with the sport of boxing with arguably the best being "Fat City", "Rocky", "Million Dollar Baby", "The Set-Up", and "Somebody Up There Likes Me" and they each bring their own special twist to the genre but while I'm not convinced that this film is as good as those it's still an incredibly well made effort that deserves to be mentioned along side them. This is the true story of the Depression era boxer Jim Braddock (Russell Crowe) who struggled like millions of others to put food on the table for his family and tries to make money by working shifts at the docks in Hoboken, New Jersey. Braddock started his boxing career pretty well but once the crash hit he and his family were reduced to living in squalor with no heat and very little to eat.
*****SPOILER ALERT***** Braddock is also unable to get a fight after breaking his right hand numerous times and even has his license revoked by the commission after sub-par efforts. Braddock is supported greatly by his devoted wife Mae (Renee Zellweger) who would do anything for her husband except watch or listen to one of his fights. One day out of the blue his manager Joe Gould (Paul Giamatti) gets him a big fight at the Garden with a ranked contender and surprises everyone by winning it! This leads to more important bouts with good fighters which he also wins and it leads to a title shot with the champ Max Baer (Craig Bierko) who is responsible for the deaths of two of his opponents.
Director Ron Howard is technically as good as any filmmaker working today but his vulnerability is that his films can cross the line into sappiness and become emotionally obvious but here I think it works to his (and our) advantage because he taps into the brave and honest struggles of a working class hero. Braddock wasn't exactly a complicated man but his career as a boxer went up and down and up again with everything that takes place in the middle helping to show audiences what he was made of in terms of being a man and a father. Crowe in real life can be a rugged character but one of his best virtues as an actor is that he can show tremendous passion and tenderness in his performances and this quality has always reminded me of Burt Lancaster who was extremely manly and thoughtful at the same time. Being a boxing fan myself my main complaint in the story is the portrayal of Max Baer who is shown as a real brute but in real life he was really nothing like that but my guess is that Howard really wanted audiences to have a strong reason to root for Braddock's success not just in terms of earning money but to try and not get killed! Giamatti can credit his performance to the great boxing trainer Angelo Dundee (who appears in the film) and his speeches during the film are designed to inspire Braddock and help make him rise above the odds and he's believable in the role as he shows both tenacity for his profession and the personal sacrifices he makes to help his boxer and friend. Many have said that this is Howard's best film to date but I think that's completely false when you think of previous efforts like "Apollo 13" and "A Beautiful Mind" but make no bones about it, this is a well made and acted film that does the correct thing by just being (for the most part) honest in it's portrayal.