Cinderella Man
Tags: depressing, violence, feel-good, flashback, inspiring, romantic, historical

Plot synopsis:
James J. Braddock is an Irish-American boxer from New Jersey, formerly a light heavyweight contender, who is forced to give up boxing after breaking his hand in the ring. This is both a relief and a burden to his wife, Mae. She cannot bring herself to watch the violence of his chosen profession, yet she knows they will not have enough income without his boxing.
As the United States enters the Great Depression, Braddock does manual labor as a longshoreman to support his family, even with his injured hand. Unfortunately, he cannot get work every day. Thanks to a last-minute cancellation by another boxer, Braddock's longtime manager and friend, Joe Gould, offers him a chance to fill in for just one night and earn cash. The fight is against the number-two contender in the world, Corn Griffin.
Braddock stuns the boxing experts and fans with a third-round knockout of his formidable opponent. He believes that while his right hand was broken, he became more proficient with his left hand, improving his in-ring ability. Despite Mae's objections, Braddock takes up Gould's offer to return to the ring. Mae resents this attempt by Gould to profit from her husband's dangerous livelihood, until she discovers that Gould and his wife also have been devastated by hard times.
With a shot at the heavyweight championship held by Max Baer a possibility, Braddock continues to win. Out of a sense of pride, he uses a portion of his prize money to pay back money to the government given to him while unemployed. When his rags to riches story gets out, the sportswriter Damon Runyon dubs him "The Cinderella Man", and before long Braddock comes to represent the hopes and aspirations of the American public struggling with the Depression.
A title fight against Baer comes his way. Braddock is a 10-to-1 underdog. Mae is terrified because Baer, the champ, is a vicious man who reportedly has killed at least two men in the ring. He is so destructive that the fight's promoter, James Johnston, forces both Braddock and Gould to watch a film of Baer in action, just so he can maintain later that he warned them what Braddock was up against.
Braddock demonstrates no fear. The arrogant Baer attempts to intimidate him, even taunting Mae in public that her man might not survive. When he says this, she becomes so angry that she throws a drink at him. She is unable to attend the fight at the Madison Square Garden Bowl or even to listen to it on the radio.
On June 13, 1935, in one of the greatest upsets in boxing history, Braddock defeats the seemingly invincible Baer to become the heavyweight champion of the world.
An epilogue reveals that Braddock would later lose his title to Joe Louis and later worked on the building of the Verrazano Bridge, owning and operating heavy machinery on the docks where he worked during the Depression, and that he and Mae used his boxing income to buy a house, where they spent the rest of their lives.

Review: In the depiction of the massive unemployment, the "Hoovervilles" of the homeless residing in Central Park, and the desperate need for Americans for an optimistic icon like Braddock to raise their spirits, the film truly captured the tragedy of the Great American Depression.The film's director Ron Howard emphasized close-ups throughout the film with uneven results.
I feel like I am being punched, as Renee' Zellwegger's character Mae Braddock says, and I'm not as tough as these prize fighters.But this one has Russell Crowe in it.
Without using violins or cliché' pull-back shots showing the numbers of people homeless and in soup lines, Howard makes the Depression a visceral reality with scenes of near-hopeless men at the docks, pleading for a day's work; a stolen salami; Crowe's giving his daughter his breakfast piece of bologna, telling her he dreamed he was full.
Better yet, instead of getting the picture, go see it.Russell Crowe owns the character of James Braddock, the unlikely hero who makes the most of his second chance.
Injury, bad luck and this thing called the Depression sends him down the drain.His wife, Mae, played by Renee Zelleweger, wants to be his biggest fan, but the kids need a dad, the rent has to get paid and the money from boxing dried up along time ago.
My heart was firmly lodged in my throat for the last hour and a half of The Cinderella Man. Nobody does true-story heroism like Ron Howard, and few can do heroes like Russell Crowe.
But this is not just a "period piece." The behavior of everyone in the cast, and every extra, shows dedication to reproducing the gestures and attitudes I have observed in people I have personally known who lived through the depression.Take, for example, the scene at the dock where Braddock, the boxer, waits with dozens of other men for the chance to work a stevedore job for the day.
There is plenty of time devoted to character development and it pays off handsomely in the long run as we really care about Jim Braddock every time he steps in the ring.All in all, Cinderella Man is a rousing, classy film that utterly satisfies..
(If my observations at the showing are typical, women fans will spend time alternately heading their eyes and virtually cheering out loud for Braddock/Crowe.) There are a number of good supporting actors but Paul Giamatti strikes again!
Here's hoping he pulled some big bucks for a role for once.(You will certainly recognize Bruce McGill, as the seemingly hard-hearted fight promoter who could care less about Braddock but really doesn't want to see him get killed in the ring, from many movie and TV appearances where he is always reliable and who may be remembered from an early exposure as "D-Day" in Animal House.).
Cinderella Man is the story of a Depression-era boxer and American hero Jim Braddock, but it contains enough love interest, family interest, and great-champion-of-the-people interest to satisfy most Saturday night out filmgoers.
It's a total no-brainer, beautifully served up, and all the clichés delivered with such accurate emotional punch that you forgive it for being a tad unoriginal.Gladiator and bar-brawl man Russell Crowe plays the lead role and Renée Zellweger puts in a good performance as the ideal and very loving wife that supports her husband through thick and thin.
One gets tired of the modern-day age of the "anti-hero." It's nice once again to see a good man propped up instead of shot down.The third major character in the film is "Joe Gould" (Paul Giamatti), Braddock's trainer and loyal friend.
Now here is where I would not be surprised if his movie character was nothing like real life because Hollywood has to have a "bad guy" to counteract the "good guy" so here it is Baer, the last obstacle in the way of Braddock's quest to be heavyweight champion.
With Ron Howard directing and Russell Crowe, Renee Zellweger, and Paul Giamatti starring, Cinderella Man was sure to be a worthwhile cinematic experience, if only it hadn't been released in the unsuitable summer months of blockbuster fever.
But even when taken out of context, Cinderella Man is a fine, elaborately and accurately produced (if minimalistic) Depression-era boxing-pic love story that simply doesn't go where no great movie hasn't gone before.Crowe, as always, gave a studied performance that reflected his involved physical and mental preparation, not to mention his accent!
He had seen good days but depression took everything.He fights again to win matches and its about survival this time not entertainment.He got to keep standing till the end (in the ring) to buy heating n food fr his children because he had promised them that he wont be sending them away...n even when he is famous n reporters crowd around him asking how he felt he was humble enough to reply 'i was doing it to buy milk'....its a real story n a touching one.
Add into the equation that Russell Crowe stars as Braddock, at a time when Crowe was gaining unfavourable press for anger issues and a love of poetry: And also that it's yet another boxing movie, this film was disliked before it had even been released.
A special mention has to go to Renee Zellweger, who as Braddock's devoted wife, gets arguably the toughest role in the picture, that she leaves a firm and emotionally enlightening impression is with much credit to the pretty and undervalued Texan.Rags to riches films are here to serve a purpose, they exist and will continue to be made because the world sometimes needs reminders that love, hope and respect can reign supreme, especially in trying and troubled times.
Inspiring,breath taking, this movie should be the bible of everyone who thinks they had it,they can not take it any more,an example of believing in yourself and fighting for what you think is right and most dear to you.Watch this movie and it could change your life,you could start all over again with a new found strenght.Magnificent play bye both Russell Crowe and Paul Giamatti with the excellent contribution of Renee Zeelweger, both first actors should have been given the Oscars for best actor and best supporting actor..
Renee Zellweger, Russel Crowe, Paul Giamatti (who practically steals the show), even Craig Bierko as the boxing nemesis were so great!
In 1934, when Jim's couch and manager Joe Gould (Paul Giamatti) offers to him a chance to return to boxing, he becomes the symbol of hope of hopeless people in a ruined nation."Cinderella Man" is a very beautiful dramatization of a true story.
The film has a magnificent reconstitution of a period; excellent cast, with Russell Crowe, the always excellent Renée Zellweger and Paul Giamatti; and a really very positive screenplay, showing the fight for surviving in an economic ruined country of a honored family with strong bonds and moral principles.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
(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).
Dangerously close to being "just another movie about boxing", but the portrayal of an era saves it and Russell Crowe is great in roles like this.
The fact that he isn't fighting for glory but for for survival immediately makes his struggle much more poignant, and Ron Howard's Cinderella Man (2005) rides on this advantage throughout  this desperate depression time that drives a man to desperate measures.I think boxing is a truly inhumane sport.
However, Russell Crowe is convincing in the role of Jim Braddock, a man struggling to reach the top of his profession and while the underdog story has been done to death, audiences still love it because they always see themselves in their heroes' role.
That's so Hollywood.Finally, there are two bigger problems with "Cinderella Man": The uplifting, true, sport story about people who win back a second chance from the Great Depression was seen years earlier in "Seabiscuit".
The latest film from director Ron Howard follows the Depression-era boxing career of Jim Braddock (Russell Crowe), who retires after a number of defeats.
This is the passive, loving wifey movie fans have seen since the beginning of time, and Zellweger does absolutely nothing original with the part; Russell Crowe has some strong scenes as Braddock, but our introduction to him, smugly collecting his money after a fight, is curiously sour.
Ron Howard's 'Cinderella Man' is the story of of Depression-era prize-fighter James J.
In the beginning we see the Braddocks as a happy family and then we see them during the depression era: James struggling to find work at the docks, his fighting with a broken hand, giving his daughter his breakfast meal, Mae watching her children get ill, she and the children stealing wood from the sign to provide warmthwe are provided with many such hard hitting scenes.
Mae tries her best to be supportive but she fears for his life and her fears become more apparent when James agrees to fight Max Baer.Howard's direction is good, nothing outstanding.
There are several memorable scenes (some of which I've already mentioned) most of which is because of the actors' performances.Credit goes to Crowe, Zellweger and Giamatti for turning this movie from good to great.
Thought of as an 'over-the-hill' boxer, the fanciful story of James Braddock (adroitly played by Russell Crowe) is a movie which should be seen by anyone who needs a second chance in life.
Like many films that star Russell Crowe, Cinderella Man literally balances itself upon his shoulders, and it gets very comfortable there for once.
If nothing else, Ron Howard knows how to simulate a fight for a film.Renée Zellweger gives a surprisingly good performance as Mae, the wife of Jimmy.
Russell Crowe deserves best actor, and Paul Giamatti deserves best supporting actor in this true boxing comeback story.Ron Howard has become an excellent director.Although my parents described the Great Depression to me, this movie made me experience the poverty and despair as if I were living it.
Incredible as this seems to us today, to Jim and his generation--it was the right thing to do.I haven't been so moved by a movie in a long time.10/10 but keep little kids away because of some gory fight scenes..
There are some movies which can be bought & kept in your DVD collection, this is one of them.Time & again directors have made movies to touch people's sentiments, but the life & misery of James J Braddock has been shown so elegantly in this movie that a tear is bound to roll down your cheeks.The glamor & muscle of boxing mixed with the sorrow & agony of the great depression is excellently portrayed.
Hollywoods infatuation with the sport of boxing is easy explained : the rules are the sport are simple, its physical and yet can be like ballet and is always a good tool to depict determination.Ron Howards movie is just that...taking us from the golden glitter of the roaring 20s to the Great Depression, plus its a great comeback story, probably the best since the 1st Rocky movie.
Anyway, there's not much to say about boxing, there are hundreds of movies which talk about that sport.Russel Crowe plays Jim Braddock and he makes an awesome show of strength and charisma, he'll probably won the Oscar (that would be his second one, and his fifth nomination in 6 or 7 years).
Once a young, promising boxer injury and back luck has seen Jim Braddock turn in one poor fight after another to the point where he is stripped of his boxing license and forced to looked for other work to support his wife and young children.
Howard directs with a sturdy hand, doing well with the fight scenes in particular; it isn't all down to him but I did think he let the sweeping meaning of the final fight get away with him a little bit but to be honest by then I was swept up in it myself.Cinderella Man is nothing new or remarkable but it is still an easily enjoyable and warming sports movie in the mould of Seabiscuit and the like..
The passionate work by Ron Howard and the haunting performance by Russell Crowe makes me almost one of the thousand 'ugly Jersey friends' that supported Braddock that night.
This movie had everything, from the amazing portrayals given by Russell Crowe, and Renee Zellweger, to the tremendous supporting role played by Paul Giamatti (Sideways).
That said, "Cinderella Man" presents a vivid portrait of one of the worst times in American history: The Great Depression.At the center of the story is James Bradock, a fighter that is seen at the beginning of the film with what appears an assured future.
Jim Braddock goes to fight the powerful Max Baer, a man that has been notorious for killing a couple of opponents in the ring.The film is satisfying in spite of all the desolation and poverty one sees.
Finally, Ron Howard scores a real winner with this film, that should be seen by more people because it presents a real portrait of a man that was genuine and loved his family..
What is of real interest is that Ron Howard has grown as a filmmaker who can depict character and times in equal measure, Russell Crowe is an actor of enormous subtlety, and James Braddock was a true American hero, a fighter who came back, a symbol of an indomitable America coming back from economic failure..
I can find nothing wrong with this film; it is a true story of a heavy-weight boxer who touched and inspired people; it has great heart, very well - think Oscar sweep - acted, beautiful production design/cinematography, brilliant editing...it truly depicts big city life during the Great Depression...you feel you are there in the fight scenes, i can't wait to see it again...the best film i have seen all year....
Russell Crowe commands the film from start to finish and you can't help but notice that his marriage and new son have really loosened him up and actually probably helped him get into this role, a character you can't help but love and cheer for.The sets, cinematography and costumes are all Oscar worthy and will most likely land nominations.
The thing is, even with him hating Braddock a little too much, the rest of the film is so solid that we don't really care at all.Russell Crowe's second Oscar (which he really should have won in 2001 for ABM) is not a given -- nor is Cinderella MAN winning Best Picture come March 3rd.
"Cinderella Man" tells the story of once great boxer Jim Braddock played masterfully by Russell Crowe.
He is awesome in "Cinderella Man", and he may win another Oscar.I was familiar with Jim Braddock in the context of Heavyweight Champion Max Baer (played in the movie by Craig Bierko).
(Some Spoilers) Increidable but true depression era rags to riches "Cinderella Story" about the amazing comeback of boxer James "The Bergen New Jersey Bulldog" Braddock, Russell Crowe, who went from having to go on welfare, which he later honestly paid back, to be able to care for his family to become the Heavyweight Champion of the World.
One of the most moving scenes in the movie "Cinderella Man" came just before the fight between Jimmy Braddock and Max Baer as Jimmy's wife Mae went into her church to light a candle and say a prayer for her courageous and valiant husband.
Cinderella Man (2005) **** (out of 4) Russell Crowe gives the performance of his career as James Braddock, a boxer who loses it all during the Great Depression only to get one more chance inside the ring.
Anyway, this is certainly the best film of director Ron Howard's career since we've seen this story so many times before yet he keeps it fresh and interesting down to the final fight.
Ron Howard's Cinderella Man, starring Russell Crowe as long shot heavyweight contender Jim Braddock, skillfully and subtly weaves in stories of daily life during the depression, into the fabric of what could have been a conventional boxing story.