Cinderella Man (2005) ***

Rating: 7/10 (11 March 2006)

A pretty good and surprisingly compelling biopic which, apart from obviously emphasizing the traditional elements of a boxing drama for commercial purposes, tries to faithfully portray its background of 1930s Depression America; this it does in meticulous detail but also excessive sentimentality, I think. Besides, the 'modern' (i.e. mannered) performances of its stars and the occasionally over-emphatic direction rather serve to detach oneself from that particular environment  which is not at all what the director intended!
Still, the film's trump card remains its technically proficient and tremendously exciting boxing sequences (particularly the smooth transition from one fight to the next and the lengthy final bout between Braddock and Max Baer, though the latter is rather lazily presented as a one-dimensional villain in order to put the audience, no pun intended, firmly in Braddock's corner).