Well worn but worthwhile

Rating: 6/10 (14 June 2005)

Dang, that Russell Crowe sure can take a licking and keep on ticking. I would have liked Cinderella Man a whole lot more if I hadn't already seen it at least a half dozen times, most recently in a Turner Classic screening of "Somebody Up There Likes Me", with Paul Newman and Pier Angeli in the Crowe-Zellweger roles. "Somebody" inspired the Rocky series in the 70s after which karate had to be given its due, and most recently we saw Clint Eastwood's melancholy take on the gentle art.
None of this is meant to take anything away from the acting or direction of this well-crafted but well-traveled story, which adds a new dimension by setting the action during the Depression. The character of James Braddock is given the burnished treatment of a mythical boxing hero: a ferocious animal in the ring, but a good-natured, loving man outside. Crowe renders this trope with his typically understated grace and intelligence, and the script gives him a lot to work with - as a former contender making a comeback during the 1930s, he has history on his side when tells a reporter the reason he fights is "for milk" for his family.
Renee Zellweger seems so comfortable in the role of supportive mate that it required a look at her resume for me to realize that she has not played a similar part since she cut her teeth on the part of long-suffering Dorothy in Jerry Maguire. I look forward to seeing how she plays Janis in "Piece Of My Heart", which started production this year, according to IMDb.com.
Although critics have raved about Paul Giamatti, who plays Braddock's manager, for the last 2 years, I haven't taken the bait. He may have been nominated for an Oscar for "Sideways", but that film would have been nothing without his three strong supporting actors. Although he tries, it's hard for us to picture the pasty, cerebral actor as a fight manager - even when he talks the talk, he almost sounds like he's explaining his approach to the role in front of Jim Lipton and an audience of hungry thespians. Placing Giamatti next to the legendary Angelo Dundee outside the ring might have sounded good, but it backfires.
Apparently Max ("Jethro") Baer, Jr., has taken Ron Howard to task for the movie's rendition of his father, the formidable heavyweight champion. Although Baer, Sr. did play a part in ending the lives of two of his opponents - one expired in the ring after a devastating blow to the head - the champ was said to have been tormented by guilt afterward. Even Jim Braddock, the model for Crowe's character, said that Baer was a genuinely good fellow who merely played the part of a villain to promote the sport of boxing. Apparently Howard found that to be an indispensable part for his movie, which graphically compares the horrors of the ring to the horrors of "Hoovervilles" in the 30s - as Braddock says in an argument with a leftist friend, "you can't fight shadows," i.e., poverty and greed. Max Baer, whatever else he might have been, was definitely not a shadow, and the prospect of facing his lethal right hand causes Braddock some visible hesitation even after a string of upset victories.
On one level, the movie is a commentary on human nature similar to "Seabiscuit": in difficult times we need heroes, two legged, four legged, or wherever we can get them. The title comes from a sportswriter's column referring to Braddock's return from obscurity and destitution.
On another level, it is the story of one man's redemption. Jim Braddock may have had a gift that most men admire exactly because they lack it, but he too was faced with the breadline and might have lost his family and even his life except for a freakish bit of luck. Ron Howard and his lead actor never let us forget how close even a man of Braddock's apparently outstanding character and ability came to falling. It's a testament to this movie's quality that it conveys this theme so consistently while avoiding overstatement.