| » movies / cinderella man |
Cinderella Man
(2005)
|
||||
|
biopic
 (imdb rating: 8.0/10)
This is one of the best movies of the 2005
Plot: The story of Depression-era fighter and folk hero Jim Braddock, who defeated heavyweight champ Max Baer in a 15-round slugfest in 1935.
Cinderella Man opens on a 1928 fight, Braddock (Crowe) seems to have it all, an easy win. Those are glamorous days with nice suits and hefty pay. Fade in a quick edit that will jerk your head back, we are just a few years later, it's all around misery in the full swing of the Great Depression 30 minutes into this very well made pseudo "period" piece and you'd think it was a contender for saddest movie ever made. Children getting sick for lack of heat in the house (there's no money to pay for electricity), boy steals from the butcher, parents forced to send kids away. Things are quite bleak for Braddock, now a washed out fighter who actually lost his license for being an embarassment to pugilism. Work on the docks is hard to come by and he can hardly put food on the table Then here it comes, a 2nd chance and a miraculous victory. Braddock is a better fighter, faster with a left he didn't have. Hope for all There are I am sure numerous complaints one can make. The "clueing in" flashes to point the audience in the right direction (ribs getting displaced, the wife identifies with the passing of her friend's husband) were a tad overbearing but I rolled with it. The movie had its less than necessary tangeants (Central Park's Hooverville) but it kept me interested. The scenes in the ring were really rivetting. I remember watching Raging Bull and thinking the catalog of wins were getting predictable. Here things are done right and there's a good cut between Braddock's 2nd (Lewis) and 3rd fight (I forget) to keep things flowing. I got a bit worried for the final showdown with champion Max Baer, were they gonna pull some cheap shit? That fight did not let me down The supporting cast has a pretty evil business minded Bruce McGill (forever that guy in MacGyver), small roles for Braddock's kids, Giamatti as as a sympathetic coach/trainer/manager and Braddock's rock of a wife (Zellwegger) who cannot bear to watch her husband's bouts. What can I say about her, yes she's a splendid actress but from Jerry Maguire (by way of Empire Records) to this movie, she's lost about any trace of sexiness. Those cheecks are ginourmous, the hair here doesn't helps One thing is clear after watchintg this, either it was all out great or I must have an affinity for boxing flicks. Some of them focus on the training, on what goes on outside the ring and I suppose this has the very human drama of the poverty in the country and New York but the boxing kept me on the edge, cheering and raising my arm to the protagonist battling in the ring Now how did this movie get snubbed at the box office? I think they did a bang up job on the trailer. I guess I could attribute the blame on Crowe's hotel scandal "I have to believe… that when things are bad… I can change them" Gossip aside, no matter how much of an ass Crowe could be in real life, you know his acting is solid because I can't help but come away with how decent his character is. I almost got teary for the scene where he has to apply for emergency relief cash (basically wellfare at the time), he gets a measly $19 and has to beg for another $20 from society types at a boxing club hangout to turn the power back on in his hole of an apartment. Jim Braddock, a real man among men, an inspiration, a hero This movie was the best one I've watched all year PS If I was an actor, I'd wanna train for a boxing movie, that shit is so badass Links - blog post 11/23/2005 - Cinderella Man, best movie of the year Last Updated 12/9/2005 2:29:19 AM 2hr 24min / Directed by Ron Howard / Starring Russell Crowe, Renée Zellweger, Paul Giamatti / Language: English / Watched: DVD Also by Ron Howard - filmography (9 movies)
     Also starring Russell Crowe - filmography (7 movies) 
Also in biopic (40 movies)      | ||||
