Cinderella Man

Rating: Null/10 (26 April 2017)

Cinderella Man is the story of James J. Braddock, played by Russell Crowe, who is an upcoming boxer that goes from riches to rags, and then back to riches. Braddock's wife Mae Braddock, played by Renee Zellweger, does not like that Braddock fights. The couple experiences many ups and downs throughout the movie. Right before the Great Depression started Braddock was winning fights and able to support his family financially. Then with a bad streak of luck, the Depression hits and Braddock starts losing fight after fight. After losing many fights, the boxing commission kicks Braddock out and tells him he is no longer allowed to fight. With no way to pay the bills, and a broken hand, Braddock goes to the docks to try to earn some money. Things continue to go south for the Braddock family. They can not afford to keep the lights on, get milk, and do not have enough money to feed their children. Mae sends the children away to live with her family without talking to her husband. Braddock has to suck up his pride and go to the same boxing commission that told him he was no longer able to fight and asked them for money so he could get his electricity turned back on. Finally, things started to turn around when Braddock's manager Joe Gould, played by Paul Giamatti, is able to get Braddock a one-time fight. To everyone's surprise, Braddock wins this fight, and the commission lets him back into league. Fueled by the last several years of poverty, heartache, and passion Jim continues to win and becomes the number one contender, and eventually takes home the title of the world's heavy weight champion. The two main themes of the movie Cinderella Man were loyalty and to never give up on your dreams. Braddock's manager, Gould, never gave up on Braddock. He was able to get him another fight and sold his furniture to help finance Braddock's comeback. Gould had Braddock's back throughout his entire career. If Braddock would have given up boxing he would have never been the world's heavy weight champion. It appears that Cinderella Man and Rocky are very closed related. Both movies have main characters that symbolize strength and courage. They are both the struggling underdogs in a one time fight and end up winning their fight. By winning the fight, they were able to change their lives. Rocky and Braddock also had the support of the people on their side. The film's director Ron Howard, uses several extreme close-ups during the boxing scene. During the close-ups of the fighters, we see the exhaustion from their faces. Along with close-ups, slow motion is used to help emphasize the speed and the power of the punches. As the film is based during the Depression years, the lighting is dark with very few bright colors. During several of the fights, we are able to experience a subjective point of view. This allows us to see the punch that is coming to hit Braddock. As Braddock showed us, you should never give up on your dreams even if things take a turn for the worst. Continued dedication and hard work will eventually pay off.