A Knockout In The First Round!

Rating: 9/10 (5 August 2005)

Maybe it is because I am an avid fan of the sport, but these past few years have really been fun for me at the box office. Two huge boxing box office pictures(try and say that three times fast). As seen in Cinderella Man, this is a sport that can either make or break a human. Jim Braddock was the epitome of what this magnificent sport means. You may be standing in your local supermarket and the man standing next to you could be the welterweight champion of the world. You wouldn't even know. That is the beauty of boxing. It lacks all of the glamour and glitter of all the other major sports(for the most part). This is and always will be a blue collar sport, as illustrated in the movie.
O.K- Now to talk about the movie. Jim Braddock was a fighter during the Great Depression. He not only had to fight in the ring, but to feed his wife and children as well. I wont go on about all of the magnificent dialogue and very well choreographed fight scenes(they put a punching bag on the lower part of the camera for Crowe to punch to give a more realistic affect). I will. however, leave you with one of my personal favorite scenes in the movie. After Braddock(Crowe) hits rock bottom financially, he goes back to the boxing commission and has to literally beg for money. Boxing fan or not, this movie is a must see for anyone.