rcrill
This is a classic story that you see someone go from nothing at all to having success and having everything he could imagine. James Braddock (Russel Crowe), a once proud and successful boxer had the glory and won every bout he ever fought. With the difficult time with the Great Depression and the injured hand he had, it was really hard for him to fight and let alone even get booked for a fight. This lead James to take odd jobs just to make ends meet to take home to his wife Mae Braddock (Renee Zellweger) and family. This lead James to go to his promoter Joe Gould (Paul Giamatti) to do anything to get back into the ring. Joe went ahead and finally got James booked for a fight. Unfortunately, James had to fight the number two contender for the World Heavyweight Championship. Everyone in the boxing world didn't give James a shot to win. He proved everyone dead wrong. By gaining a victory, that put him in position for a championship bout. Again being the underdog, he rose to the occasion to become the World Heavyweight Champion. He overcame all the odds to find new found glory and this time he had time to enjoy and soak it in. I feel that this movie had a reference towards Rocky. Not just because it is about boxing, but it also has that feel good success story element to the film. It also has a feel with the kind of cities that they grew up in. James lived in a rough part of New Jersey and Rocky was in a hard environment of Philadelphia. One last thing is how and where they did their training. They both had dimly lit gyms, old gear, and a ring that looked like it was on its last leg. The only difference about the two would be the time of history that these two movies took place. The one element that I would say about Cinderella Man would be the lighting. During his decline of fame, everything had a dark feeling. James and Mae's house was the perfect example. They went without power and ran their house with candles. Secondly, the gym that he was training in. It just had a feeling of sadness and hardships. On the other hand, the movie had great lighting at times. Once he found his glory again, it was camera flashes, big time arena crowds, and an overall positive attitude. Next, I would have to say that the motif was a good element to the movie. It kept on showing the crowds at different bouts and his difficult living conditions. Overall, I found this to be a great movie. This shows that anything can be accomplished when you put the work and force into anything to want to do in life. It all comes down to the old saying, if you want it, go get it.
Nick Holland
Cinderella Man is directed by Ron Howard and stars Russell Crowe as James Braddock, a rags to riches boxer that tries to make a life during the Great Depression. The story follows Braddock, and his wife (Renee Zellweger) as he rises from a very bad boxer, to a very good boxer, and the conflicts that this causes in his marriage, and the ever so hard time known as the Depression.Ron Howard, the director, is known by many people as Opie Taylor. However, he is also a pretty good, and well known, director in Hollywood. He's directed such movies as The Da Vinci Code, A Beautiful Mind (also with Russell Crowe), and even Apollo 13. He's done some pretty good films, and this one lives up to the others. While on the topic of Ron Howard, I might as well mention the directing. The directing in this movie is actually pretty good. During the fight scenes, he films the action pretty well. There aren't an overabundance of cuts, and he used a lot of wide shots when Braddock was in the ring. I was impressed with the directing.The cinematography was also pretty good. Some people may not like it, because it's dark and dreary, but I liked that quite a bit. It expresses how hard the Depression was, and it symbolizes the people's' lives. Their lives were dark, and nothing seemed to work out. This is also true for the story's protagonist, which leads me into my next positive.The characters were very likable. I truly understood why James had to fight, and I also understood why his wife, Mae, didn't want him to. She needed him to be able to take care of the family, and he thought he was doing so by fighting. He saw fighting as a way to make money, and she saw it as an easy way to get killed. These characters are a literary device known as a foil; they contrast each other. However, this somewhat reflected on another couple involved with the boxing business, and for those of you who have seen the Rocky films, you know exactly what I'm talking about. James and Mae are a pretty clear image of Rocky and Adrian, which could easily bring the movie down, if not set in such a specific time period as the Depression was.Speaking of the Rocky films, James' final opponent, Max Baer, reminded me of Ivan Drago, from Rocky IV. Both men were known for killing opponents in the ring, and being very strong, yet the protagonist still insists on fighting them. The last two points could easily be summarized by the "boxing movie" cliché. This cliché is abundant through all boxing films, not just this one. It is easily recognizable in other movies, such as The Fighter, Raging Bull, or Southpaw. This, however, can be excused by the difficulty to differentiate themselves from other boxing films.So, overall, my main problem with the film is it's obvious cliché, yet I liked almost everything else about the movie. I think Cinderella Man should receive a B, or an 8 out of 10.
