Good but...

Rating: 7/10 (10 January 2006)

I just watched Cinderella Man on DVD. It's a good movie: good story, good acting, good action, good setting, but still not quite there. The story is very well told. However, it's also quite clichéd. From the point when the Braddock family sank deep in the Depression, everything sounds too familiar. The rest of the film is the classical mix of melodrama: sickness, unhappiness, apprehension, quarrel... I don't have to wait till Renee opens her mouth to know what she's gonna say and how Crowe will reply. Also, too many films have already used boxing as their subject, which may I add is painfully short of variations. When there was Million Dollar Baby already last year, Cinderella Man doesn't seem fresh.
It's a very well done movie. Yet it's built on a rather weak foundation that it simply can't make it up to the top tier however many buckets of tears it can win from the audience. Just as the Golden Globe has reflected, acting is its only big trump card.