Cinderella Man is a Knockout!

Rating: 9/10 (10 June 2005)

I'll admit, I'm not a fan of Ron Howard's directing efforts. His previous films, A Beautiful Mind, The Missing, and The Grinch, all bored me beyond belief. I found them uninteresting, uncompelling, and too dry for the material. I'm also not the biggest Russell Crowe fan. Gladiator and L.A. Confidential were good, but as a whole, i don't really like him. And Renee Zellweger? I completely dislike her, even if she has been in some good movies. Going into this film, it was against all odds with me, much like Braddock. Yet, Crowe and Howard pull through creating the year's first true Oscar contender.
MINOR SPOILERS FOLLOW The film revolves around James Braddock(Crowe), a champion boxer. His career is hitting an all-time high at the start of the film, but soon, the Depression sets in and he loses it all. Flash forward a couple years and Braddock is now living a beaten up, old apartment with his wife, Mae(Zellweger) and their children. Braddock is no longer fighting at Madison Square Garden, but some small venue nobody's heard of. Braddock breaks his hand, yet again, and Braddock's trainer, Joe Gould(Giamatti), is forced to tell him that his boxing license has been revoked. With no job, no boxing license, and no electricity or heat, the Braddock family sets in for a long winter. Desperate to keep his family together, Braddock begs for money from the boxing commissioner and Gould. A boxer set up for a big fight drops out and with no one else to go too, Gould gets Braddock for the fight as a one time deal. Amazingly enough, Braddock wins not only the fight, but the hope of Americans all over as he sets out for a comeback that could prove fatal.
A lot of people love Crowe for his work in Gladiator, but I had always thought his career highlight was in the crime drama, L.A. Confidential until now. Crowe delivers a pitch-perfect performance. I've never been a big fan of movies that involve heavy accents cause most actors can't pull it off. And if they do pull it off, that tends to be the only highlight of the actor's performance. But Crowe amazingly nails the accent and delivers a heartfelt performance that moved audience members to tears. He brings so much depth and heart to the character and makes a legend seem like a real person. He comes alive on screen and makes everyone around him all the more better. This is one of the first Oscar-worthy performances of the year.
Renee Zellweger delivers the most annoying performance of the year, topping those in such crap-tastic films such as Be Cool and Alone in the Dark. As I said earlier, most actors will only nail the accent or the emotional performance, but Zellweger manages to fail one-hundred percent here. Every scene she was in she brought down and nearly ruined the film. Yes, she was in big films such as Jerry Maguire and Chicago, but that doesn't make her a good actress. Why she continuously gets cast in films is beyond me. Maybe I am a little biased, considering I find her voice extremely annoying. Thank God she was the only problem in the film. To be honest, I don't think her scenes would've been that big of a loss. The movie is already long as it is. Paul Giamatti also adds to the film. He completely steals the movie every scene he is. He was criminally robbed of an Oscar nomination for his performance in Sideways and if the Academy overlooks him yet again, they will have lost the little respect I still have for them. Giamatti is the highlight of this film not just for his performance, but because of the abundant energy he adds to the film. If only Giamatti were in every film ever made, there would be no bad movies.
As for the direction, Ron Howard is worthy of an Oscar nomination for his incredible direction. I'll admit, Million Dollar Baby is a far superior film. But the boxing scenes in the film were incredible. Howard adds so much emotion through the camera work and I constantly found myself flinching or becoming uneasy after a major hit. The writing is incredible in this film. I haven't heard of the screenwriter before, but if Cliff Hollingsworth keeps writing like this, he could be one of the biggest writers in the upcoming years. His material is so rich and full of depth and emotion. I was awe-struck by the film for not being flashy or full of itself.
Cinderella Man is easily one of the best films so far this year and you deserve to be knocked out if you pass a chance up of seeing this film in theaters. The emotion and depth shine, along with phenomenal performances by Crowe and Giamatti. Not a Ron Howard fan? Don't worry because he is a new director in this film. This is not the kind of film to wait until DVD to see. You need to see it in a gigantic theater full of people with huge speakers and a gigantic picture. The boxing scenes are intense and moving and better than many action films this year so far. Please, don't skip this Cinderella fairy tale.