Way over-rated mediocrity

Rating: 5/10 (6 June 2005)

So now that the bandwagon appears to be full, let me jump off of it.
I went to see this movie with mixed feelings, but the understanding that I needed to experience it before reading any more reviews. I love Ron Howard and he will forever be a hero of mine simply because of his involvement in Arrested Development, the best television show of the last several years. I've had my problems with some of his movies, however, particularly A Beautiful Mind with its drastically skewed version of the reality of John Nash. As for this one, although the true story of Braddock is very compelling, the film ends up drowning in its own predictability. We know what's coming around every corner and which characters are doomed to the opposite fate of our hero. We know our guy will come out on top, despite the misgivings of his long-suffering wife Mae (even if she doesn't bother voicing them until the climax). All the lead characters are saintly to the point of nausea and, again excepting sadly misguided Mae, never make any actual mistakes. Nothing that goes wrong is their fault, but they find a way to rise above it nonetheless and we (literally and audibly) cheer them on for it.
The boxing scenes are nearly impossible to decipher. The editing is so disjointed that we can never tell who is hitting who and why the crowd is cheering.
Paul Giamatti is good, but he's back to his usual buddy/ manager/ co-worker role that we now know is far beneath his talents. Renee Zellweger plays the role that she is given, not that there's much to it. She only exists to stay in the basement with the children and remind Braddock when bills are due and so she fades into the background where she was intended to stay. And, to put it bluntly, I'm over Russell Crow as a brooding, reluctant hero.
Overall, there's not much to rave about here. The one or two effective scenes are swallowed up by the cheese that makes up the rest of the movie.
I think I'll change my vote from 6 to 5.