Ron Howard should take Russell Crowe to Disney World....

Rating: 10/10 (4 July 2005)

I just can't say enough about Russell Crowe. Yet another, subtle, understated, nail-on-the- head performance. This guy is consummate! Too bad he won his Oscar for the wrong role. But hey, I guess he'll take what he can get. And a matching virtuoso directing job by Howard as well. The fight sequences were very effective, keeping me right in there with the clinches. Some have said that this is not a fight movie as much as a human-interest, character study. I find it eminently satisfying as both. I find myself fascinated, once again, with Howard's choice of subject matter and dedication to effective and entertaining presentation of the material. I really am not aware of all the liberties, if any, he has taken with the factual material, but as with "A Beautiful Mind" and many other such historical studies, I am not very concerned about them. I have always felt that movie directors should have as much literary license as other artists, since myth and legend is just as much an effective part of our culture as history and fact. I don't depend on movies for my knowledge of history, just as I don't depend on history texts for my amusement. As long as a film doesn't lie about the essentials of a story in a blatant attempt to mislead, it can still be effective and laudable.