Russell-Mania in the Ring
Stellar Cast Elevates Slugfest Cinderella Man

It is odd that some of our best directors should turn their attention to boxing stories at a time when the sport itself is darn close to falling from the public’s consciousness. But that gamble paid off for Clint Eastwood as his Million Dollar Baby scored at the box office last year and earned multiple Oscars including Best Picture.

Ron Howard is hoping that lightning can strike twice and that the public will embrace his new history-based boxing picture Cinderella Man with the same enthusiasm.

“I don’t care if you beat every heavyweight contender in the country, I am absolutely positively not drinking any merlot!” Russell Crowe and Paul Giamatti star in the new Ron Howard biopic of fighter James J. Braddock, Cinderella Man.

Cinderella Man stars Russell Crowe as Depression Era heavyweight contender James J. Braddock. After a promising early start, Braddock’s career went the way of the US economy in the early 1930s and at one point he and his family had to go on Public Assistance to survive. He revived his career with a series of fights that led all the way up to a title bout with heavyweight champion Max Baer, a seemingly unbeatable slugger who had killed two men in the ring.

In addition to Crowe, Cinderella Man stars Renee Zellweger as Braddock’s wife Mae and Paul Giamatti as Braddock’s friend and manager Joe Gould.

Every boxing movie from Rocky to Raging Bull has to be rated on ring scenes and in this regard Cinderella Man is superb. Guided by legendary boxing trainer Angelo Dundee, Crowe sculpted his body into that of a fighter and learned how to spar in a style reflective of the time period. The cinematography of the fight scenes is magnificent and as the rounds go on, the boxers’ faces accumulate the “prizes” of prizefighting (it is only rated PG-13, but the blood will bother some viewers more than others).

In a movie filled with fine performances, this is ultimately Crowe’s ship to captain. He has said in the past that he doesn’t mind playing characters that he dislikes as humans. Here we get to see what the actor can do with true human nobility. If Howard toyed with the idea of presenting Braddock with some sort of character flaw, he ultimately downplayed it in the final edit. Sure, Braddock has his share of pride, but in the end he comes off as saintly and human at a time when the common man needed a hero to rub shoulders with.

The problem for actors is that saintly can sometimes come off as schmaltzy. It is a testament to Crowe’s craft that this never happens in Cinderella Man. There are a couple of moments between Crowe and Zellweger that border on saccharine, but those are few and far between. For the most part, they downplay their roles as husband and wife by throwing themselves headlong into their roles as concerned parents during a time of economic crisis.

The hits just keep on coming for Giamatti. Four years ago he was a struggling actor with a less than impressive filmography of seldom seen movies. Now he is a star. Prior to Cinderella Man, his past three features include the hilarious American Splendor, the criminally underrated Confidence, and last year’s mega-hit Sideways. Although Sideways earned Giamatti a Golden Globe nomination for best actor, he was snubbed by the Academy when the Oscars rolled around. Look for the Academy to make up for that slight by nominating him for a Best Supporting Actor statuette for his gruff yet endearing turn as boxing manager Joe Gould.

Craig Bierko takes the meager supporting role of heavyweight title-holder Max Baer and absolutely runs with it. In the ring he is an animal of uncontained fury while in public he is a California-style playboy and sophisticate. Many consider Baer the first boxer to cash in on his celebrity in a decidedly modern way and Bierko shows how the man could be scary and menacing yet charming at the same time.

Cinderella Man is the first true Oscar contender of the year and along with Raging Bull and Million Dollar Baby one of the best boxing movies ever. It is comparable to Seabiscuit in that it tells a great historic sports story and in doing so sheds light on how Americans used sports figures as inspiration during the Great Depression.

Cinderella Man is rated PG-13 for intense boxing violence and some language.