True talent shines from Blatant Sentimentalism

Rating: 7/10 (2 June 2005)

Joe Gould says in the movie 'People are sentimental..", I am sure the crew of this movie is! The story and the screenplay does some very overt attempts at tugging at the heart strings. Succeeds at times. I am not sure if putting subtler dialogs and scenes would have helped. There are some characters that are made fairy tale-ish one dimensional. Like Max Baer or Jimmy Johnston. Or Jimmy Braddock himself.
But that being said, it is an excellent movie. Russel Crowe is brilliant. The helplessness, the power, the integrity he can bring on his face is amazing. Insider, LA Confidential, Gladiator, Beautiful Mind and this one.. he has perfected his nuances. Paul Giamatti is also amazing. He should be getting meatier roles after his last two performances. Craig Bierko pulls a pretty fine Max Baer. Its not hard to imagine his Max Baer as a Hollywood star and a "Clown and a Killer".
Only (a very very tiny) disappointment in acting Renée Zellweger. Don't get me wrong, she is brilliant. I am surprised by how nicely she can pull the jersey accent. She is completely at ease and doesn't look like she's acting except in last few scenes.
All in all, 7/10