Although a 19-year-old girl is not the most likely person to love a boxing movie, the addition of several of the best actors in Hollywood, a renowned director, and one of the most unbelievable true sports stories of the century makes this quite possible in Ron Howard's "Cinderella Man," starring Russell Crowe as the Depression-era boxer, James Braddock.
The film opens on Braddock as a rising boxing star in 1928, living in a wealthy New Jersey suburb with his beautiful wife, Mae (Renee Zellweger), and their three children. The movie then cuts to 1933, when the Great Depression cloaks the country, including the Braddock family, in poverty and failure. At the same time that the United States struggles economically, Braddock and his manager, Joe Gould (Paul Giamatti), battle a losing streak, culminating in the loss of his boxing license. His family becomes so desperate in its poverty that Braddock continues to beg for work as a manual laborer on a nearby dock, even when his hand is broken in three places. Following a scene in which all the neighborhood children must share a birthday cake because they cannot afford their own, Gould comes through in the clinch with a one-time fight offer. Braddock's shocking win marks his return to boxing and the start of his status as a working-man's icon in his ascent to the Heavyweight title match against the lethal then-reigning champion, Max Baer (Craig Bierko).
This uplifting story of Braddock, who served as a symbol of hope to the public in his rise from dire poverty to the pinnacle of the boxing world, is more than just an average sports movie filled with intense boxing matches. Thanks to Howard's direction and a well-written screenplay by Cliff Hollingsworth, "Cinderella Man" makes a powerful social statement, illustrating the horrors of the Great Depression.
The contrast between the Braddock's house in 1928, with a lovely backyard, and their dirty one-room apartment in 1933 clearly demonstrates the hard times that fell upon everyone during the Depression. Howard creates a dark world of misery, in which one of the Braddock children is compelled to steal salami to obtain enough food so that he can continue to live with his parents. A scene of Hooverville -- the shanty-town that sprung up in Central Park during the Depression -- breaks hearts, as corpses lie nearly unnoticed between shacks.
Amidst the Great Depression's atmosphere of hopelessness, the public yearned for a beacon of light to provide faith that success was indeed attainable. James Braddock valiantly served this role as he moved from unemployed on public assistance, to a Heavyweight boxing contender who publicly repaid the money he had received from public assistance. The media seized on this "Cinderella story," and the public attended his matches in enthusiastic droves.
Crowe magnificently steps into the unlikely hero role of Braddock with modesty and grace. He physically alters his appearance for the part, slimming down with lean muscle, to play the family man and boxer. Donning a Jersey accent, Crowe plays the doting husband to Mae, the loving father to his kids, the old friend of Gould, and the determined boxer who continues to fight through broken ribs. Crowe's believability peaks in a particularly heart-wrenching scene in which Braddock is forced, with tears in his eyes, to beg his former friends for money to turn back on their electricity.
Supporting performances by Zellweger and Giamatti are also expectedly wonderful. Zellweger turns Mae into not just an adoring and supportive wife, but also a feisty rebel, dousing her husband's obnoxious opponent with wine in a posh restaurant. Zellweger and Crowe work together to conjure believable chemistry as a romantic couple battling the external adversity of extreme poverty.
Giamatti gives another fantastic performance as Braddock's supportive, quick-witted manager and friend. Thanks in part to cleverly-scripted dialogue, Giamatti and Crowe banter wittily like old friends. Howard's adroit direction elicits top performances from all actors involved, in addition to creating an atmosphere of excitement and social change. The direction and cinematography of the boxing matches is so exciting that viewers actually sit on the edges of their seats, as cameras rapidly swirl around the fighters to the sounds of cheering fans.
Overall, the fabulous direction, acting performances and screenplay transform "Cinderella Man" from what could have been a cheesy, average boxing movie into a triumph that prompts viewers to simultaneously cheer and cry. Although the characters may be a bit too black-and-white, lacking some complexity and nuance, viewers actually grow to care about them, which is a hallmark of a great movie.
