Movie Review: Cinderella Man

Cinderella Man

Despite the fact that it's early for such things, early reviews of Cinderella Man have been so positive that the word "Oscar™" has already been bandied about. Personally, I find that such talk is as often hype as it is true, but I felt somewhat obligated to see Cinderella Man just in case. After having spent two and a half hours in the comfort of an air conditioned theatre yesterday (it was almost unbearably hot and humid where I live, and I would have frankly seen almost anything just to enjoy the comfort factor), I'm here to tell you that the Oscar™ talk is most assuredly not mere hype.

Cinderella Man is the true story of boxer James J. Braddock (Russell Crowe) who fought in the late 1920's and 1930's. His many amateur successes in the Golden Gloves program translated to a successful professional career. Braddock found himself with paydays enough to provide his wife Mae (Renée Zelwegger) and their three children with a comfortable home and nice albeit not extravagant possessions. He was even able to put significant monies aside in the form of investments for his later years. But when the Great Depression arrived, many fortunes were reversed. Braddock and his family lost everything in a matter of a couple of years, and soon were forced to leave their home for a shabby and dark basement apartment.

Disheartened, his attitude apparently spilled over into his fighting, and Braddock began to lose more often than he won. Eventually, a singularly poor performance offered when he's forced to fight with a broken hand, results in a local commissioner (Jimmy Johnston, played by Bruce McGill) pulling his boxing license. There's nothing Braddock can do about it, either, despite his manager's (Joe Gould, played by Paul Giamatti) efforts to reverse the decision. So an already destitute Braddock family becomes desperate as Jimmy searches but all too often fails to find work.

Determined to hold his family together, Braddock sacrifices his pride to get a few more dollars to pay bills. It's at the time of his deepest despair that Gould shows up with a one-time offer for Braddock. Apparently a fighter on a bill for the very next day has pulled out of the match. If Braddock will take his place with no time to prepare or train, he'll make $250 whether he wins or loses. Despite Mae's reservations, all Braddock can see are the dollar signs, and he tells Gould he'll do it. It's a good decision. After the crowd's reaction to Braddock's performance, Gould is able to sweet talk the commissioner into permitting Braddock to fight again. And with visions in his mind's eye of losing his children, seeing friends die in shanty towns, and his long suffering wife, Braddock's resolve almost literally knows no boundaries.

Braddock eventually finds himself pitted against men who are powerful and ruthless. He, on the other hand, is aging and old injuries are returning to haunt his performance. Mae lives in fear that her husband will be seriously injured or worse; Braddock himself is hard pressed to stay positive in the face of his wife's pleadings. But, as he tells a radio audience, it's not often a man is given a second chance, and he's determined to take advantage of his.

Russell Crowe has proved time and again to have the ability to almost literally become a character. His physical resemblance to the real James J. Braddock is impressive enough, but the accent and the attitude he manages to clothe himself in bring Braddock to entirely believable life. Zelwegger only looks something like Mae Braddock, but her performance, too, is stellar. Paul Giamatti (who in my mind was robbed at Oscar™ time last year for his eminently worthy Sideways performance) more than holds his own in an effective supporting role. When you take performances as good as these are, and combine them with a director like Ron Howard and sets and fight choreography like you see here, you have an awe-inspiring return to a moment in time. The only negative aspect of Cinderella Man is a script that is too slow in its early scenes, and which occasionally offers language that's jarringly stilted and artificial in an otherwise entirely believable movie.

The script problems, however, are small and infrequent. The acting and the sets, meanwhile, are consistent and flawless, and the story is more than a little compelling. When you take work of that quality an put it together with superb direction and excellent editing, yes, the word Oscar™ comes up. And it should.

NOTE: The political notes below contain some small amount of movie spoiler information.

POLITICAL NOTES: The Great Depression marked the beginnings of the welfare state. Though relief was arguably right for the times (I said arguably, not necessarily inarguably), the fact that so many welfare programs continued — and grew — after the Depression was over has proved more than a little problematic for us today. The biggest difference between welfare than and welfare now, however, was the attitude of the recipients. While many today seem to think the government owes them something, people in the 1930's were embarrassed to need the help. Braddock himself was deeply humiliated to seek aid. But he later did something so decent and honest that it literally took my breath away: he returned to the relief office and paid back every nickel. There are some very real lessons here for government, but some that are even more important, I think, for the rest of U.S...

FAMILY SUITABILITY: Cinderella Man is rated PG-13 for "intense boxing violence and some language." The boxing scenes are, indeed, very real (various print media have reported that Russell Crowe suffered something like a dozen mild concussions when he filmed his fights) and the injuries aren't pretty. But there's so much here to be learned of responsibility and genuine decency — not to mention real manhood! — that kids from perhaps about age 10 and up should be encouraged to see the film. Certainly, I'd recommend Cinderella Man for adults of all ages in the hopes that they, too, will take something away with them after having seen such heroism on screen. It seems almost icing on the cake that the movie is a good one even if you look at it purely as a couple of hours of entertainment!