CORPORATE LINE: Academy Award®-winning producer Brian Grazer, director Ron Howard and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman (all Oscar® winners for 2001’s A Beautiful Mind) are reunited with Oscar® winner Russell Crowe for the Universal Pictures-Miramax Films-Imagine Entertainment production, Cinderella Man. Starring opposite Crowe is two-time Oscar® nominee Renée Zellweger.
Crowe stars in the story inspired by the life of legendary athlete Jim Braddock, a once-promising light heavyweight boxer forced into retirement after a string of losses in the ring. As the nation enters the darkest years of the Great Depression, Braddock accepts a string of dead-end jobs to support his wife, Mae (Renée Zellweger), and their children, while never totally abandoning his dream of boxing again.
Thanks to a last minute cancellation, Braddock finds himself back in the ring against the second-ranked world contender–and to everyone’s amazement, Braddock wins in the third round. Despite being pounds lighter than his opponents and repeated injuries to his hands, Braddock continues to fight against challengers and win. Carrying on his shoulders the hopes and dreams of the disenfranchised masses, Braddock, dubbed the “Cinderella Man,” faces his toughest challenger in Max Baer (Craig Bierko), the heavyweight champion of the world, renowned for having killed two men in the ring.
THE GOOD: It’s hard not to love everything about Cinderella Man. Director Ron Howard does a masterful job of leading this band of brilliant actors and getting the most out of them. Russell Crowe dominates nearly every scene and makes Cinderella Man his own. If Crowe doesn’t deserve an Oscar than nobody does.
Sure, the Cinderella Man resembles Seabiscuit and there is little if no harm in it. Giamatti is a gem has been overlooked. Certainly, Ron Howard has a lot to do with making Cinderella Man great but it’s the knockout performances by Crowe and Giamatti that make every moment great.
THE BAD: Nothing.
FRANKLY: Cinderella Man is a movie with class. It doesn’t try to overwhelm viewers with special effects or needle us to tears. Howard hits every note perfectly in a complex juggling act between violence and tender emotion. Thankfully, Howard is a master and made great what could have been average.
+ Charlie Craine
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