The Cinderella Man (12A)
Posted by Nade on Thu, 22 Sep 2005.
Starring: Russell Crowe, Renee Zellweger, Paul Giamatti, Craig Bierko and Paddy Considine
It’s not very often you can come out of a cinema screen, with one of the most prominent thoughts in your head being ‘that’s an Oscar winner if I ever saw one’. But Ron Howard’s “The Cinderella Man” is certainly the type to encourage these type of thoughts.
The tale follows the true story of James J Braddock as he struggles to survive during the depression. Once a star boxer, he is taken out of the action by an injury and has his license revoked. From there, it’s all downhill, as he battles to get work at the local docks and earn enough money to support his family.
Throughout this, he keeps his sense of honour, going as far as to return food that his son has stolen to “help” his family out, right down to going as far as to return the whole of his welfare money after winning a huge payout on one of his fights.
One day, out of the blue, his old manager comes to see him with an offer that he can’t resist. Big money for one match against a contender for the title. That’s it, just once more in the ring, and Jimmy Braddock would walk off two hundred and fifty dollars richer and not have to look back.
No prizes for guessing that he takes it. And what a comeback! His opponent is literally pounded into the floor. Which paves the way for Jimmy to make a re-emergence like no other. Fighting his way back up through the ranks, it’s a real life fairy tale. It comes as no surprise that the less fortunate people should adopt him as their hero…almost as though he is fighting *for* them.
And then it comes to the big finale. Braddock versus Baer, a fighter who already has killed several men in the ring. It seems almost suicidal to go through with it. I shall say no more on that front, apart from mentioning that when The Jitty were watching the film, we sat in our seats, white knuckled and fingernails chewed down as far as they would go…that’s how tense it was.
Russell Crowe is also surprising good in this. Having lost a lot of weight and got into shape to play the role, he takes more than his fair share of injuries and concussions whilst filming, though that could be attributed to going up against professional boxers. Renee Zellweger is absolutely fantastic in her supporting role, and the shots used to convey the damage Braddock takes whilst fighting leave you wincing and wondering exactly how anyone could withstand that amount of punishment.
As far as film production goes, aside from the lilting Irish accents being more mobster than Dubliner, it can’t be faulted. Ron Howard truly brings a sense of warmth to this tale that could easily have turned out much more aimed at the baying masses of sports fans. Instead, it throws the doors open to anyone who has a passion for the big screen.