Cinderella Man
For this movie about 1930s boxer Jim Braddock (Russell Crowe), director Ron Howard interrupted his longtime collaboration with composer James Horner and teamed up withThomas Newman. It’s a wise decision: Newman has a lighter touch and his somber palette emphasizes the fact thatCinderella Manis more thoughtful drama than mere brawling flick (even a track titled "Pugilism" eschews obvious punchiness in favor of ominous, rolling tribal-like percussion. Elsewhere, "Weehawken Ferry" illustrates Newman's ability to write swelling, majestic music that's not bombastic. Typical of the subdued approach is Paul Giamatti’s version of "Londonderry Air," which he delicately whistles. The score is interspersed with a few lovely Depression-era tunes such as Chicago tenor saxist Bud Freeman’s "Tillie¹s Downtown Now," Roane's Pennsylvanians' "We’ve Got to Put that Sun Back in the Sky," and especially Eddie Cantor’s wonderfully biting "Cheer Up, Smile, Nertz" ("Our judges are queer/Our banks disappear/And all the while they tell us to smiiiiile").--Elisabeth Vincentelli