Cinderella Man

Rating: 8/10 (22 June 2010)

From director Ron Howard (Splash, The Paper, The Da Vinci Code), he and his leading actor from A Beautiful Mind reunited for this second biographical drama, this time involving sport. Set in the time of the American Great Depression, James 'Jim' Braddock (Golden Globe nominated Russell Crowe) is a champion boxer, who won a fight in 1928, but five years later he and his family are hit by the troubles in the stock market, and unable to get another fight. His wife Mae (Renée Zellweger) would prefer if Jim would quit boxing and stick to working on the docks, but he knows that a fight is what he needs to earn real money. Finally, his trainer, coach and manager Joe Gould (Oscar and Golden Globe nominated Paul Giamatti) gets Jim a fight, facing the current number two contender, and he manages to knock him out. His extraordinary comeback in the ring becomes an inspiration to all the Americans suffering in the Depression, and his many fights create excitement in North America. Then the big championship match comes along, where Jim, dubbed "Cinderella Man", is to face arrogant champion Max Baer (Scary Movie 4's Craig Bierko), ruthless for killing two men in the ring, which obviously makes Mae scared for Jim's life. Of course, Jim ignores everyone with their concerns, and feels he has nothing to lose in this very brutal boxing match, which thank goodness, the judges conclude, with no knockouts, he won. Also starring Bruce McGill as Jimmy Johnston, Paddy Considine as Mike Wilson, Ron Canada as Joe Jeanette, David Huband as Ford Bond, Connor Price as Jay Braddock, Ariel Waller as Rosemarie Braddock and Patrick Louis as Howard Braddock. Crowe is perfect as the beaten down and brought back again boxer, Zellweger tries to be husky with her accent and she is still reasonable, and all the fight sequences are the best of the film, as an alternative to Rocky it really shows the brutality of boxing. It was nominated the Oscars for Best Editing and Best Makeup, and it was nominated the BAFTA for Best Original Screenplay. Very good!