Unoriginal, melodramatic & manipulative hooey!

Rating: 3/10 (22 October 2005)

I felt manipulated from beginning to end. The director and scriptwriter obviously do not respect the intelligence of their audience to manipulate us with such over the top melodrama. One example of the type of manipulation I am talking about is the scene with Crowe and the son when they are having the conversation that they will never give up their kids....and the son starts crying. Is this really necessary? They are poor, its hard times for the family....WE GET IT!!!Do we need to be hit over the head with this??I felt that so many of the elements in this film have been done before and done better in such films as "Rocky" and "Raging Bull". The film never tried to be bold or original in its story telling.....it seemed just geared to please Oscar members...thats all. This film does not have the originality or complexity of other films released this year and SHOULD NOT be rewarded with any kind of nominations. If it does get noms...then Ron Howard will have succeeded in manipulating AMPAS. He didn't succeed in manipulating me and based on the mixed reviews and not entirely glowing reviews by most respectable critics.....he did not manipulate critics either.