A Heartwarming Film

Rating: 6/10 (4 August 2006)

The latest film from director Ron Howard follows the Depression-era boxing career of Jim Braddock (Russell Crowe), who retires after a number of defeats. Because he still has to support his wife (Renée Zellweger) and children, Braddock returns to boxing when he has a chance to fill-in for someone in a high profile match. His unexpected win over the #1 contender begins a series of victories that get the masses behind this true-life underdog.
I love underdog movies. They're predictable and safe but still enjoyable and heartwarming. Cinderella Man is the perfect example of a good underdog story. It does feature a bunch of clichés but the film wins the viewer over by the end. I think Ron Howard is a very good director. He kept the film on a familiar path but he still kept it entertaining. He could have edited the movie though. It was overlong and the 140 minutes was not necessary at all. It didn't take away from the quality of the film too much though. Howard portrayed the good guy well, making him extremely likable. I didn't like the way the "bad guy" was portrayed though. In real life, Max Baer was a nice person but in Cinderella Man, he's portrayed as a cold and vile man. It was an unfair portrayal and Ron Howard shouldn't have gone over the top with it.
The boxing scenes were exciting and well done. Howard captured the danger, fortitude and skill involved in boxing. The first half of the film was a little slow but still nicely done. The second half was faster and not as depressing. The ending was nicely done and very heartwarming. The film wasn't perfect though. The family scenes were too melodramatic. They all fell flat and the actors portraying the three kids weren't very good. There were also a few other cheesy moments that slowed the movie down. I blame screenwriter Akiva Goldsman for this. In my opinion, he's a weak writer and it amazes me that he was able to win an Oscar.
The acting was great and pretty much everyone gave a good performance. Paul Giamatti gave a very engaging performance as Joe Gould. It was intense, realistic and he put a lot of soul into the role. Russell Crowe played Jim Braddock extremely well. His off screen behavior is questionable but he still delivers some nice performances. Renée Zellweger was just as good as Crowe and it's surprising that neither of them received nominations. After seeing Craig Bierko in Scary Movie 4, it was a little hard to take him seriously as Max Baer. He gave just an okay performance. In my opinion, Cinderella Man was a strong and heartwarming film but it wasn't anything amazing either. It was far from bland but it wasn't best picture worthy either. In the end, Cinderella Man is a fine film that's worth checking out. Rating 7/10