Cinderella Man

We watched Cinderella Man in class this week, so it seemed fitting that I review it.

The film (based on a true story) follows an aging James Braddock (Russel Crowe), a boxer from New Jersey who started off his career on a run leading to an eventual defeat to the titleholder. After breaking his hand multiple times and posting a losing streak, Braddock is forced to retire. After working a ton of hours to support his family (the film takes place in the 30s), his manager Joe Gould (Paul Giamatti) gets him a fight as much needed income. Braddock defies the odds, wins multiple times, and ends up getting a shot at the title and wins in what turns out to be one of boxing's biggest upsets of all time.

The cast of this movie was top notch. Crowe put on a fantastic performance, especially when dealing with the children. He played a very convincing 30s-man and captured the time period beautifully. Giamatti put on the best performance of his career in my opinion. It was very believable and perfectly emotion-laced. Renee Zellweger was good as Mae as well. The rest of the cast put on performances that were good enough to support that powerhouse threesome.

The story was written very well, but it felt slow and cumbersome at times. The writers appeared to be indecisive on whether this movie should focus on the boxing world, or on the Depression life of Braddock. By emphasising both equally, the movie felt a bit disjointed and slightly drawn out. The dialogue was very well written and it captured the time period perfectly.

Lastly, the boxing scenes themselves were done very well. The action was well choreographed and very believable. The actors cast as Braddock's opponents were good for the job, as was Crowe himself.

A good movie overall, despite it's belabored approach to storytelling. Well done. 4/5 stars