Promotes the Human Element

Rating: 9/10 (21 April 2006)

This is a story of a man, not just a boxer. We are never privy to all of the training and abuse Braddock must have been through. That's because we are as much a part of his family life and his dealings with the Depression as we are about the series of fights that he endured. He obviously was a great talent. The fact that he is held in such low esteem was a little surprising to me because he had not lost a fight. Granted, his injuries diminished his entertainment value and, as the film states, that's really what it was all about--tickets.
But the real substance of the movie is Braddock and his family and the scenes where a man couldn't get work, even though he was able bodied and committed to the work. My parents told me that the word "depression" was more than an economic term at that time. Hope was taken away. The character represented as Braddock managed to maintain hopefulness and even had to debase himself to keep his family together. He was like millions of men and women. You could only do so much to hold it together.
This is a film strong in cinematography. The fight sequences are very good. I don't know how anyone can step into a ring, knowing that another man is trying to knock your head off. The punches are seen landing. The endurance necessary to keep going for fifteen rounds had to be phenomenal. But the scenes of the depression are also beautiful framed. Not just the sadness but the joys people still create. The group birthday party when all the kids celebrated their birthdays on the same day was something I wasn't aware of.
See this movie. It has charm and pain and action. It never sells out.