A Truly Remarkable Film

Rating: 10/10 (30 May 2005)

I just saw Cinderella Man last night, 5/29/05. I was one of the first crowds in Madison WI to see it. And let me tell you it was amazing. If this is what happens when Ron Howard and Russell Crowe work together, they should line up a few more movies. They already struck gold in "A Beautiful Mind", and now "Cinderella Man".
The Story follows a Great Depression era Boxer (James J. Braddock) who lost it all when the stock market crashed. He ran into bad luck when he broke his hand and could not even continue boxing well, so the Boxing commission repealed his boxing license. And he could not really take care of his family. But then a year later his manager Joe Gould (Paul Giamatti) said he could get Braddock one more fight, against a Heavy-Weight champion. Braddock actually won the fight, and then became America's favorite new under-dog, winning all kinds of challenging fights. He finally got the chance to fight Max Baer, a champ who had killed two people in the ring. Braddock's wife (Renée Zellweger) begged him not to take the fight, for fear of her husband's safety. But he still goes, and fights his heart out. He beats Max Baer, and he has been called the "Cinderella Man" for that, and his other fights.
Russell Crowe, Renée Zellweger, and Paul Gimatti all deliver Oscar-worthy performances. Crowe as a the kind hearted under-dog boxer, Zellweger as his loving and caring wife, and Giamatti as his confident and inspiring manager. If you like a good film, with romance, drama, action, a happy ending, and a heart, then you should definitely see "Cinderella Man", it may just be the best movie of the year.