Das Comeback

This is a truly great film. Russel Crowe, Rene Zellweger and Paul Giametti were all fabulous. Russell Crowe is the best actor of our time. I am not a boxing fan, but I was so engrossed by the character of the Cinderalla Man that I was totally involved in every punch. I didn't know how the story would end, so I had the added thrill of suspense during the final fight.

The story of a family in the midst of the Great Depression was as compelling as the boxing story. The solid family man played by Russell gives us a much needed role model. The historical and socio-economic background was powerfully shown and greatly added to the audience's involvement and is particularly relevant to today. This is a classic film.

Before I get to whether or not I liked this film, the history teacher in me thinks it's very important to set the record straight. Although the film is pretty accurate when it comes to the career of James Braddock, it's very inaccurate in portraying his opponent, Max Baer. The champion, Baer, is shown as a sadistic jerk who killed two men while boxing--and really delighted in taunting Braddock about this. In the film, the evil and filthy-mouthed Baer tells Braddock to bow out of the fight, as he could be the next to die in the ring--and he really seems to LIKE tormenting Braddock's wife about this. In reality, Baer killed one man in the ring. It was a horrible accident which occasionally happens in boxing--one which apparently haunted Baer for the rest of his life. In fact, he helped pay for his dead opponents to get educations and looked after this family--hardly the act of a sadist. I understand why the folks who made "Cinderella Man" changed this in an attempt to create tension, but the story would have STILL worked great if it had just stuck to the truth. Plus, think of how this film affected Baer's relatives when they saw it. Max Baer Jr. ('Jethro' from "The Beverly Hillbillies") knew his father was not like this and I am sure it pained him to see him so badly misrepresented.

As for the NON-Baer parts of the film, they are great. The look of the 1930s is exceptional--much more realistic than you often see in films. Also, the acting is terrific, the film VERY engaging and the story of Braddock very compelling. Without the misrepresentation of Baer's in the story, I would have given this one a 10. Really....it's that compelling and they did a great job. The acting, direction, designs...everything but the writing was perfect.

By the way, this isn't so much a complaint as an observation. In this movie, like practically EVERY other boxing movie, there is hardly any defense (such as blocked shots) in the boxing matches--punch after punch that lands on the opponent. If fights REALLY were like this, they'd rarely go beyond the first round!

"Cinderella Man" deserves to be placed alongside other great biographical films dealing with the lives and times of great boxers. Such films include "Raging Bull," "The Joe Louis Story," "Ali," "The Hurricane," and "Ring of Fire: The Emile Griffith Story."

These films share in common not just a documentary-like approach to boxing or a superficial biopic. They also portray the human side of a modern gladiator and the culture that produced him. In the case of "Cinderella Man," we are given a detailed and heart-rending portrait of the Great Depression in American. The story of the gentleman pugilist James J. Braddock is the backdrop to the larger drama of Americans' struggle in the 1930s.

Russell Crowe provides a brilliant interpretation of Braddock, capturing the decency of a man whose career as a boxer would appear to have peaked at just the wrong time prior to the Crash of 1929. After that momentous event, Braddock's boxing went into decline just like the lives of millions of Americans. The scenes of Braddock and his family living in squalid conditions and with uncertainty about such basics as heat and electricity were carefully developed in the film. Renée Zellweger was outstanding as Mae, the caring but feisty wife of Braddock. Paul Giamatti was also excellent as Braddock's handler-manager, Joe Gould. Joe tries to keep up appearances by sporting fancy clothes. But in one revealing scene in the film when we see the interior of Joe's ostensibly swanky apartment, there is no fancy furniture other than a dowdy table and some flimsy deck chairs. Everyone is reeling from the Depression. 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. In many of the boxing sequences, the close-ups and rapid editing made it difficult tell the fighters apart. The close-ups continued even into the domestic scenes and the outdoor sequences depicting Braddock working as a longshoreman. The film's dark cinematography conveyed the bleakness of the Depression years, but it worked against bringing out the buoyant spirit of Braddock himself and the optimism that he instilled in others. As a director, Howard's strength is not in film artistry or technique. As apparent in this and other films, his gift lies in narrative storytelling and the development of dramatic character.

Indeed, the characters and the story were the strong points of "Cinderella Man." Much credit should go to Cliff Hollingsworth for a screenplay that included thoughtful dialogue, humor, and multi-dimensional characters. Daniel Orlandi also merits praise for the brilliant costumes that helped to recreate the period of the early 1930s.

But the heart of this film experience is Russell Crowe's screen portrayal of Braddock. It was the colorful sportswriter and raconteur Damon Runyan who coined the nickname of "Cinderella Man" for Braddock. However, the real James J. Braddock was more than lucky. It was his strength of character in and out of the ring that captivated America. One of the most moving scenes of the film was a heated argument between Braddock and his wife Mae where Braddock insists that even in the most difficult of times, he would refuse to be separated from his children. As a boxer, he was fearless. But he demonstrated even more courage in fighting for family values—a lesson from which we can learn a great deal today in reflecting on this sensitive film.

The dilemma: I hate boxing movies; I love Russell Crowe movies. I've already seen "Million Dollar Baby" and "Raging Bull" this year, and accidentally watched part of one of the "son of Rocky" serial movies on a Saturday afternoon. 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. And that makes all the difference.

It is not that Renee Zellwegger and Paul Giamatti, Paddy Considine, Bruce McGill and Craig Bierko, among others, give less than stellar performances: they all live up to their justifiably great reputations. You have to believe they are at the top of their game. But for all of Russell Crowe's reputation for being "difficult", it is hard to think of actors who can equal his personal force on the screen. He is brilliant.

Ron Howard has made of the real life of Depression-era prize-fighter James J. Braddock a work of art. The camera work is phenomenal. 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. The bleakness of the times is the graininess and the sepia/greyness of the camera shots; the images are stark but completely descriptive. Crowe as Braddock with hat in hand and tears in his eyes, begging for twenty dollars so he can get his children back into his home, is the personification of pride sacrificed to desperation. But when Braddock is later asked at a press conference why he is fighting at his age and after so many poor showings, all he has to say is "milk" to be supremely eloquent.

Doubtless many people know the history of James Braddock, and know the outcome of his fights, including the championship bout with Max Baer, who had already killed two men in the ring. If you don't know, DON'T look it up before you see the movie, and if you DO KNOW, DON'T TELL, but go. Analogous to watching Howard's film "Apollo 13", you may know the outcome, but there's wonderful suspense in the details. These were among the most exciting last twenty minutes I've seen on film. I didn't expect to be able to watch, but like Braddock's terrified wife Mae, I was unable to tear myself away.

The audience was like a prize fight audience, cheering, booing, gasping, groaning during the fights. We applauded Braddock's wins, suffered his defeats. It is a great movie, with authentic heart. Solid A.

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. Though Howard fictionalizes his subjects, and does not pretend to make documentaries, he does accurately depict the feeling and the major points of his subjects.

Jim Braddock was a depression-era boxer who everybody thought was down for the count. Though there is a lot of boxing in this film, this is not a boxing movie, but rather his story and the story of the family that inspired him to fight back against prejudice and hopelessness, to rise to heights that would inspire a nation. Braddock is portrayed in a moving and powerful manner, with remarkable performances all around, one of the best scripts I can remember in recent years, and occasionally brutal action.

Those who have run into my reviews may note that this is one of my shortest. Please understand that I really don't think there's much to say about this simple, beautiful and very human story, besides - see it!