A film with an emotional punch

Rating: 9/10 (20 December 2009)

As a boxing film it is most certainly immersive in the sense that Clint Eastwood brings the audience into the story and uses them as an emotional punching-bag. Before going into this film it must be stressed that the film is not light even for a boxing film. At the end of the film there is no real hope left as we see the consequences of the events preceding. I am not a boxing fan and believe it to be a stupid sport where death lurks in every dark corner and whether Clint Eastwood is a boxing fan or not he deals with my problems with boxing in an intelligent and moving way which express the consequences of what can come from the sport. The direction from Eastwood is quiet and beautiful, something I greatly admire him for that is on perfect showcase here and in other films such as Letters from Iwo Jima and Gran Torino. There is a simplicity to this film which is both moving and harrowing. The acting is brilliant. Hilary Swank's ferocious intensity is perfect and she is the first character we connect to. She's an outsider coming into the realm of boxing just as the audience is an outside coming into the film. The film's narrator and supporting actor Morgan Freeman turns in another wonderful performance which isn't showy but is real and whole and Eastwood leads the ensemble in-front of the camera in one of his finest performances ever captured. His music is also beautiful as it too captures the simplicity of the story. At the end I just feel sorry for Cinderella Man, Ron Howard is probably thinking 'why did I have to release my boxing movie the same year the best one ever made was?'