Review: Cinderella Man


Persuasive 2005 Ron Howard (“Parenthood”, “Apollo 13”, “A Beautiful Mind”) biopic of working class boxer Jim J. Braddock (Russell Crowe), a genuinely decent man who fought to feed his family during the Depression, despite injuries and a has-been tag. A perfectly cast Paul Giamatti plays Braddock’s manager, and Renee Zellweger is his supportive but concerned wife. Bruce McGill has a fine supporting role as Jimmy Johnston, the fight promoter who doesn’t see any crowd-pulling potential in Braddock. Craig Bierko turns up as a demonised version of Max Baer, the supposedly brutal heavyweight champion.

 

Crowe is absolutely astonishing here, and the story so winning (it’s like “Rocky” meets “The Grapes of Wrath”, with Braddock becoming a hero for the downtrodden just like Tom Joad), that one can overlook its flaws. Aside from the unfair treatment of the Baer character (I’ve heard on good authority that he wasn’t a monster at all), and overlength, one also has to contend with a seriously mopey, scrunchy-faced performance by Zellweger, who is simply depressing (overdoing the timid wife thing, Talia Shire needn’t worry, her mantle ain’t about to be stolen) when not irritating. How she won an Oscar for her caricatured Calamity Jane meets Yosemite Sam performance in “Cold Mountain” is beyond me, and she’s only marginally better here.

 

A solid film. The scene where Braddock has to beg his former employer and co for money is truly heartbreaking stuff, and Crowe plays it remarkably well for someone not exactly known for being humble. Scripted by Cliff Hollingsworth and the critically reviled Akiva Goldsman (“The Client”, “Batman Forever”, “A Beautiful Mind”), I’m surprised this rah-rah story wasn’t tackled earlier, it’s perfect material for a movie.

 

Rating: B-

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Hellraiser (2022)

Recovering junkie Odessa A’zion accompanies scuzzy boyfriend Drew Starkey on a break-in where all they find is a weird puzzle box. A’zion later opens the box and after some weird shit happens, A’zion and Starkey figure it might be a good idea to learn more about this messed up trinket. Goran Visnjic plays a millionaire who possessed the box before our protagonist nicked it.   Is there any point in remaking/rebooting “Hellraiser” when the 1987 adaptation of Clive Barker’s original text was written and directed by Barker himself? And is considered a horror classic? On evidence here, absolutely not. Directed by David Bruckner ( “The Signal” ) and scripted by Ben Collins ( “The Night House” ) and Luke Piotrowski (ditto) this is an entirely tedious affair. I took a long time to get on board with the 1987 “Hellraiser” , I have to admit. It was wildly imaginative and original, like a nightmare transplanted on to film. However, the characters were stone cold and left me similarly chilly t
Read more

Review: Boyka: Undisputed

Yuri Boyka (Scott Adkins) is out of prison and fighting for a living, with ambitions for the ‘Most Complete Fighter’ to make a real name for himself. However, after an opponent dies during a fight, the deeply religious Boyka starts to have a crisis of conscience. He tries to make amends with the man’s widow, which eventually pits him against a local gangster (Alon Moni Aboutboul, quite good). Anything with Scott Adkins will generally get me interested, and although this series peaked with the superlative “Undisputed II: Last Man Standing” , this 2017 film from director Todor Chapkanov (director of the SyFy movies “Copperhead” and “Ghost Town” ) is no slouch in a series yet to deliver anything less than solid entertainment. Producer Isaac Florentine is missed in the director’s chair, but Chapkanov gives us at the very least the series’ most dramatically ambitious entry, as Adkins’ ‘most complete fighter’ Yuri Boyka continues on his journey to redemption here. In this one, the
Read more

Review: Ninja 2: Shadow of a Tear

Scott Adkins is once again Casey, an American proponent of the martial art of Ninjutsu. When Casey’s pregnant Japanese wife (Mika Hijii) is rubbed out, he’s on a vengeance mission to find her killers. A friendly face, Nakabara (Kane Kosugi) turns up at the funeral, and suggests Casey come to Thailand to deal with his grief in another country. Casey initially declines, but eventually takes Nakabara up on his offer. However, his wife’s murder still haunts Casey, and with intel supplied by Nakabara, the trail eventually leads Casey to a brutal drug baron named Goro (Shun Sugata).   I was extremely disappointed with the first “Ninja” , but had heard that this 2013 sequel from director Isaac Florentine ( “Undisputed II: Last Man Standing” , “Undisputed III: Redemption” , “Ninja” ) was a damn near masterpiece of the martial-arts action movie genre. Having now finally gotten my hot little hands on it, I’d say the hype is a bit much, but this is unquestionably a much better film than the f
Read more