Review of Cinderella Man (2005) by Harry W — 05 Nov 2013

The reason Cinderella Man is great is because it combines elements of Rocky and Raging Bull without chatting into the same ultra-dark and brutal territory but instead tackling its own form of dramatic territory that emphasises various characters instead of just The Cinderella Man himself, as it's key focus is on boxer James J. Braddock but it also explores the world of boxing and the media influence, as well as how James J. Braddock influenced the people around him, and frankly Ron Howard's deep and meaningful direction combined with Cliff Hollingsworth and Akiva Goldsman's insightful screenplay ensures that the story is an in depth look at the world of boxing and how The Cinderella Man influenced it.

And one thing that's important about a biopic covering a famous sports figure is that it has to be a film which has the heart of a true sports film, and due to the technical achievement of fine cinematography, strong editing and a good musical score, viewers are really easily able to get a feel for how the atmosphere within the boxing ring projects emotions into its characters. Cinderella Man finds a fine balance between exploring boxing and exploring its titular figure, which makes it an equally impressive boxing drama and biopic, and in my opinion it's more balanced than the boxing classic Raging Bull.

And powered by Ron Howard's strong direction, the cast have plenty to work with.

Russell Crowe makes a strong lead, and another good effort in his second collaboration with Ron Howard biographical film. They work really well together in characterising important historical figures as we learned before from A Beautiful Mind, and their effort on Cinderella Man enforces that, because it's another impressive and insightful biopic, even if the filmmakers have taken liberties with certain facts, again. Russell Crowe creates a strong Irish accent without going over the top and he gives a strong performance again.

But all the cast members are overshadowed by Paul Giamatti, which is a phrase I never thought I'd say. Paul Giamatti is unarguably at his absolute finest in Cinderella Man. His articulation of a Jersey accent is one of his finest talents he uses, but his strongest is really convincing me that he wasn't Paul Giamatti. I mean, he's so swift and perfect with his line delivery and so sophisticated and quick witted and street smart. It just seems like an alternative persona to Paul Giamatti as opposed to the characters he commonly finds himself playing, such as idiotic comedic characters like in Big Fat Liar. He's suave and quick and just excellent in The Cinderella Man, and there are so many appropriate words to describe his fine performance, but it can be summarised by the fact that he earned an Academy Award nomination for his performance.

Renee Zellwegger is also at some of her strongest dramatic work in Cinderella Man without playing a character that falls into a melodramatic routine because she has an emotional grip on the dramatics in the story and uses her tenacity as an actress to back up Russell Crowe every step of the way as well as holding her own on screen. She fits the role really well and uses good voice articulation.

Although Cinderella Man's portrayal of Max Baer is inaccurate, I feel like he is a clever combination of the media's depiction of him at the time and the person he actually is. There's one moment in Cinderella Man where he says to James J. Braddock that he doesn't want him in the ring because he doesn't want I to injure him, and I believed it. Even afterwords when he played it all off as a joke for the media, I still believed it. I believed that Max Baer was a good man and a hell of a boxer even though he was aggressive, and Craig Bierko did an excellent job in the role in terms of acting and mimicking Max Baer's fighting style. And he even blends acting and boxing together well because he plays to the public image well as well as making the effort to bring out the best fighter in James J. Braddock, and even after the fight he has the decency to touch gloves. If you know what Max Baer is really about and look at him at the right angle, you can really appreciate Craig Bierko's efforts, because he does a strong job.

So Cinderella Man is a powerful story which is constructed well and acted excellently, even if it is a predictable one.