Captivating

Rating: 7/10 (18 September 2005)

I went to this film with a certain amount of scepticism having never been a fan of either boxing or Russell Crowe. However, I was hooked from almost the first shot - the acting is top notch from Crowe as the courageous Jim Braddock through Connor Price,Ariel Waller,Patrick Louis as his three children (the first good performances I've seen from child actors all year). The direction from Howard is superb capturing the savagery of the sport perfectly (the theatre I was in gasped and winced during the fight scenes) and drawing the viewer deeply into such a dark period of America's history. This story of Braddock's rise, fall and rise is well-paced, brilliantly scripted and as captivating as any film of recent times. The characters act believably and are crafted to perfectly elicit the required reactions that the film-makers want the cinema-goer to feel. Overall this is a superb must see movie and I hope it garners some Oscar nominations at least, certainly Crowe deserves a nomination(Best Actor) and possibly Paul Giamatti (Best Supporting) for a considered portrayal as Braddock's manager Joe Gould.
Overall, I would say along with Crash this is the best film of 2005 so far and, in the genre of Boxing films is second only to (obviously) Scorsese/De Niro's Raging Bull.
8/10 - Highly recommended.