Cinderella Man

Day 226 - 8/14/09 - Movie #222

BEFORE: It's Thursday night/Friday morning and I can get back to some longer movies - this boxing film clocks in at 2 hrs. 25 min. - directed by Ron Howard and starring Russell Crowe as boxer Jim Braddock. "Based on a true story" - isn't "true story" sort of an oxymoron? Why don't they ever just say "Based on truth"? Because it's always a story from someone else's point of view? So it's never completely factual? I'm just sayin'...

THE PLOT: The story of James Braddock, a supposedly washed up boxer who came back to become a champion and an inspiration in the 1930s.

AFTER: The first part of the film shows Braddock working on the docks, with a broken hand, to support his family during the Great Depression. Made in 2005, I think this film is more timely now, considering the state of the U.S. economy in the past 12 months. Just when things look bleakest, Braddock's manager gets him a fight on an undercard, as a last-minute replacement, and the implication is that he wins, because he HAS to. Paul Giamatti does an excellent job (doesn't he always?) as Braddock's manager, Joe Gould, and provides some insight into boxing strategy for the viewers. For example, he notices that Braddock's opponent leaves himself open right after a jab, and tells Braddock to get two punches in during that opening each time...

There's great fight footage, some from the boxer's P.O.V., so you really feel like you're right there in the ring with them. But it's also brutal (as it should be?) with occasional CSI-style graphics of ribs being broken. Braddock's success makes him a symbol of hope for the poor and the downtrodden - and eventually he gets a title shot against Max Baer (played by Craig Bierko), who has a rep for beating 2 boxers to death. Nobody plays a douchebag better than Bierko, and I mean that as a compliment.

Full disclosure - both Bierko and Giamatti have recorded voices for my boss's animated films, but I have not met either man. So I remain impartial and this will not affect my rating.

RATING: 8 out of 10 milk bottles.