Rename this one "Schlocky I"Ron Howard once again makes us think we're eating prime rib when we're actually sucking on cardboard.

Rating: 4/10 (4 June 2005)

Perhaps I had a bad day yesterday before I sat down to watch "Cinderella Man", but let me try to convince you why I did not really like this film a lot.
I wanted to love this film. I tried to really get into the Depression-era feel and the "feel-good-everyman" riches-to-rags to riches story of Jimmy Braddock, the underdog-cum-heavyweight-champion who outlasted a younger, more deadly Max Baer in 1935. This film is perhaps is the most historically realistic and visually stunning film that Ron Howard has ever directed. It may also be the most ambitious film that Brian Grazer and Penny Marshall have ever been involved in, including Marshall's "A League of Their Own"). "Cinderella Man" has every stylistic element in the book going for it. Production design, costuming, set design, general casting, art direction, and music was created by the likes of people who made "Chicago", "A Beautiful Mind" (which I call "A Beautiful Lie", and if I have time one day I will write about why I call it that)","Apollo 13","Do the Right Thing", and countless other great movies. This film has more heavyweight talent backing it up than Mohammed Ali every carried into a boxing ring during the height of his career. This film has the painted-portrait ambiance of Depression Era New York City.
What could possibly be wrong with "Cinderella Man"?
For me, the real problem is that I have seen this kind of movie too many times before. Remove Sylvester Stallone's self-effacing "bad-side-of-the-tracks" Italian untermensch and insert Russell Crowe with his well-practiced but overly-understated Jersey accent and you have "Rocky I". Replace Rene Zellweger's half-Betty-Boop, half-horrible-imitation-of-Cyndi-Lauper rendition of Braddock's wife, Mae with Talia Shire, and you have Rocky's wife Adrienne from that same film. Paul Giamatti, who plays Braddock's manager, must have imitated every bad 1930's and 1940's formula picture actor to smooth out the stilted and wisecracking dialog he is given in this film. Let's also just be frank. Brain Grazer was one of the people responsible for the remake of "Psycho" which should, by law, prevent him from ever making another film in his life, if justice were truly blind. This film, basically, was made by a group of recyclers. This film is the equivalent of an EPA "Super Fund" project for cinematographers.
In short, just about everything in "Cinderella Man" is too perfect. It is the same thing we get from Ron Howard every time (with the possible exception of "Apollo 13"). It's the same old substance-less sentimentality wrapped up in a lovely cinematic package that we got in Cocoon, Splash, Far and Away, Willow, and countless other Howard projects.
The real imperfections come from the extended length of the film, the predictable dialog, and the severe over-emoting of Renee Zellweger's Mae Braddock character at the end of the film. I am almost certain Ron Howard studied "Rocky II" a little too long when he copied the feel of the Stallone sequel for the last portion of this film. I also honestly believe the casting crew could have hired Cyndi Lauper for a lot less and gotten a better performance from her than they got from Ms. Zellweger in this movie. At least Ms. Lauper came from the same neighborhood upon which this film was based. She could even have been made up to look younger. Ms. Lauper also wouldn't have had to fake the Jersey smirk that Ms. Zellweger had to practice for months prior to doing this film.
I am also tired of seeing Clint Howard, who still looks too young for his age, in any movie, let alone trying to portray a character much older than his age. Perhaps, when Ron Howard dies and no one else will hire him to act, he can write that New York Times Best Seller "I Was Opie's Brother". Until then, we will have to continue to endure his presence. (If you want to see Clint Howard in something truly funny, watch "Evilspeak", which is perhaps one of the worst horror films ever made).
The politically correct will also likely be angry at the casting and make-up job of Craig Bierko as Max Baer, as well as his portrayal as a violent villain. This will be the second film in which Russell Crowe has been cast either as a character with supposed anti-Semitic views (John Nash) or opposing someone who supported Jewish causes like Baer (even though ethnically questionable to some). I have read that the Star of David was minimized on Baer's trunks to minimize any racial or religious association with Baer's trumped-up villainy in this film. Baer was more clown than villain in real life and was horribly shaken up by the deaths in the ring that he caused. And let's not forget, he was Jethro Bodine's (Max Baer, Junior's) dad. He could only be so mean, if you catch my drift.
In the final analysis, we get what we always get from Ron Howard. We get the feel of eating fine prime rib when in reality we are simply sucking on dry cardboard. He has built one more fantastic cacophony of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
This will be a wonderful film to rent at home, but I would save my money and not see this one in the theater. It will no doubt do well and I am certain the DVD will go into production very shortly after the film's theater run and will also be successful.
I just think there are better films out there somewhere worth dodging commuter traffic to see on the big screen.