Review of Cinderella Man (2005) by Leah K — 03 Dec 2009

Ron Howard makes another film based on a true story - his last one was A Beautiful Mind. Though Cinderella Man is not as good as A Beautiful Mind, it still has that epic feel to it. Russell Crowe has once a again decided to join Howard ever since A Beautiful Mind, and in this he is the lead role. He plays the boxing legend James J Braddock and this tells the story of his boxing career.

It's set during the Great Depression. James J Braddock (Russell Crowe) is a light heavyweight contender. During a fight in the ring he breaks his hand, and is forced to give up boxing. Boxing was how he got his money, and it was the Great depression at that time, so he had to find a job. His wife Mae (Renee Zellweger) becomes very worried about their bills. Soon, they don't have enough money to pay for the heating and the electricity. The children become ill, and stay at Mae's sister's house until the bills are paid. Jim gets a job at the docks and tries to get enough money so the kids can home. He makes a decent amount, but soon is offered to take part in a boxing fight by his former manager Joe Gould (Paul Giamatti). He accepts it, even though his wife isn't so enthusiastic about the offer. He progesses and gains fame among the people and soon he faces the heavyweight champion Max Baer (Craig Bierko). A lot of people have told me this is very predictable. Yes, it is. But, a lot of good films are predictable. This is true epic story, and it's quite beautifully told in the movie. The dialogue has it's ups and downs, but the characters are so likeable. They're interesting and some of the bonds that some characters share are quite amazing.

Russell Crowe is a fantastic actor. He was great as John Nash in A Beautiful Mind, and he's also good as James J Braddock in this film. He plays his character very well. Paul Giamatti as Braddock's manager Joe Gould was fantastic. He was probably the best actor in the film. I was really surprised at what a good performance he delivered. Craig Bierko was did a good job as well. He was very intimidating as Max Baer. The one actor that I though was really bad was Renee Zellweger. She was horrible - couldn't they have cast someone else? Most of the cast did a great job though.

The pacing could have been better. The pacing was very sloppy. It's slow, especially during the boxing match scenes. The fights would drag on for much too long and it becomes really boring.

It's epic, I'll tell you that. There are tragic and heart warming moments. The acting from some cast members is excellent and the story is genuinely terrific. The style is great and suits the movie so much. Highly Reccomended.