Cinderella Man Is a Crowning Achievement

Rating: 9/10 (4 July 2005)

For a quarter century, director Ron Howard has shown consistent film-making prowess in a wide range of genres. In Cinderella Man, he goes back to real life (previously he did the fact-based A Beautiful Mind and Apollo 13) and recreates the boxing hero, James Braddock, whose life parallels the fortunes of Depression-era New York. It is one of Howard's best films.
A talented boxer, Jim Braddock, ascends the ranks of boxing in the late 1920's and finds his career is jeopardized by a chance injury which cuts short any championship aspirations. Furthermore, he shows a limited boxing style that favored one arm over the other. When his boxing license is stripped and the Great Depression hits, Braddock must literally struggle to keep his family afloat as even the poorest paying jobs on the loading docks are scarce. Love and sacrifice might not be enough until a fateful opportunity comes knocking in the form of a last minute substitute in a boxing match. It seems that Braddock has become a more complete fighter by working on the docks and strengthening both of his arms.
What follows is an improbable series of bouts that leads to a heavyweight championship fight with Max Baer, a legendary giant. This is Braddock's second chance, and although he has everything to gain, he knows it is the biggest risk of his life; Baer has killed two opponents in the ring. Braddock becomes a symbol of hope as the nation begins to embrace him. As the whole country hangs on every punch via radio broadcast, Braddock is in the fight of his life.
What is basically a boxing movie is also a touching love story. You grow to understand Braddock and his wife as partners and lovers whose plight during the Depression adds resonance to the climactic bout. It is also noteworthy how the film depicts the reverence with which the populace embraced Braddock amid troubled economic times. Just as the horse, Seabiscuit, inspired a nation, so did Braddock.
Russell Crowe (A Beautiful Mind and Gladiator) is such a chameleon of an actor; he seems to effortlessly embody this legendary fighter by demonstrating tremendous physical abilities in the boxing ring while maintaining focus as the everyman who has to live by his wits. Not only did Crowe severely trim down in weight and train to be a convincing fighter (he looks to be in incredible condition), he effortlessly inflects a New Jersey accent and inhabits a proud family man whose love for his wife and three children is matched only by his heart and desire in the boxing ring.
Renée Zellweger (Cold Mountain and Chicago) does a serviceable job as Braddock's wife, Mae. A better written character would have given the actress more to work with. Her shining moment comes during a fateful meeting with Max Baer at a posh restaurant where she more than holds her own. Paul Giamatti (Sideways and American Splendor) takes his role as Braddock's trainer and owns it. He breathes three-dimensional life into what could have been a cardboard, supporting role. Particularly in the last fight, he gives Braddock advice and suggestions to the point you actually believe he knows what he is talking about. It is surely an Oscar caliber performance.
There is a subplot involving Braddock's friend from the docks named Mike Wilson (Paddy Considine) who is involved in soliciting union support which culminates in violence in Hooverville. It would have been interesting to have explored this world a bit more, but instead, it is given relatively short shrift. One minor controversy is the portrayal of Baer (Craig Bierko is quite menacing) as an unsympathetic brute of a fighter which was probably done to contrast him with Braddock. Also unfortunate is the timing of the film's release on the heels of a sleeper like Million Dollar Baby which surely invited comparisons in subject matter and Oscar pedigree.
Kudos go to the production staff for vividly reconstructing the period as costumers and set decorators reimagine a dark period of history. The infamous tents and shacks that became Hooverville are depicted faithfully. The film never drags or seems padded. It is as lean as Crowe. The boxing scenes are well shot and edited in a refreshing way. It is so easy to fall into clichés, but these fights are staged with great care and realism. When the punches connect, there are stunningly brief, close-up frames of the impact. Howard also employs split second flashback imagery to illustrate Braddock's thought processes whether it be the funeral of a close friend or remembrance of a small apartment without heat or electricity. Editing transitions are done with good effect.
Ron Howard (working off a well written screenplay by Cliff Hollingsworth and Akiva Goldsman) does such a good job that the film doesn't feel like it is being directed but rather, it feels like it just happens as in real life. While not quite as good as A Beautiful Mind, Cinderella Man is a well made film about an amazing comeback story with real life people that gets better as it goes along until its gutsy ending.