Cinderella Man Review
by Ryan Ellis (flickershows AT hotmail DOT com)June 27th, 2005
Cinderella Man
reviewed by Ryan Ellis
June 12, 2005
My Tagline---Crowe triumphs in a weak boxing flick
Chris Rock was right. Russell Crowe should star in every movie. If he has given a bad performance in his entire life, I've yet to see it. And if we have to accept some bar brawls and hotel-lobby violence to get these kind of performances out of him, then give everybody a helmet and turn the man loose. Crowe might be the very best since 1950's Brando or 1960's Newman at combining "man's man" physicality with wide-open vulnerability. All by himself, Crowe saves Ron Howard's 'Cinderella Man' from collapsing under the girth of its own obviousness.
Not that it's a very good film. Howard directs this Depression-era picture with lead fists. He might have been stuck with a paint-by-numbers screenplay (by Cliff Hollingsworth and 'A Beautiful Mind' scribe, Akiva Goldsman) and hoped that Crowe (as real-life Jersey pugilist James J. Braddock) could rescue a generic story the way he saved Ridley Scott's overrated 'Gladiator' from simply being "Braveheartacus". You should only pay to see either the Scott film or this Howard offering to see the headliner. Apart from the brilliance of the lead actor, these are just shallow reworks of better movies.
Boxing movies are the style now, it seems, and 'Cinderella Man' doesn't come close to the emotional devastation you'll find in Eastwood's 2004 Oscar-winner, 'Million Dollar Baby'. Nor does the fight footage hold a candle to Scorsese's 'Raging Bull' or some of the best moments in the 'Rocky' series (which this film most closely emulates). Still, the scenes of the 40-ish Crowe duking it out are effective because he's perfectly in his element. He's done his homework and he looks just as right when he's a has-been as when he's on top of the world.
Braddock was the perpetual underdog whose advanced-age comeback was supposed to be a one-shot deal. What hooked me in the 'Cinderella Man' ads months ago was how Crowe plays the hangdog humble guy at a press conference. He shouldn't be in this position anymore and he knows that. Truly, Braddock was just fighting to feed his family and he appreciated the chance to continue earning a buck or two as a pro boxer. Before the comeback, Braddock and his family were starving to death and they couldn't even afford to pay the lighting bill. He doesn't change into a cocky prick at any point (although this movie makes him too much of a saint) and his wide-eyed joy at getting to wear the short pants in Madison Square Garden again seems genuine.
Ron Howard has entertained me on so many occasions that busting him up for his uninspired work this time feels like a rabbit punch. At least the details are right. Salvatore Totino's cinematography features too much handheld camerawork, but he does an admirable job of capturing the period. [They shot the picture in Toronto, which is a convincing stand-in for '20s/'30s New Jersey & New York.] Once Howard puts his cast in the middle of these authentic sets, he must have assumed they'd direct themselves. He's just going through the motions. We should expect more from someone with so much experience and resources at his disposal.
The dominant supporting role is Mae Braddock, Jim's wife. Now, why would anyone cast the sly and oft-wicked Renee Zellwegger and then just turn her into the standard drab housewife who's scared for her family? Any twit can play that. Zellwegger is an intense actress and she usually impresses me with how much more talented she is than I think she'll be. Stripping her of her bony sexuality and turning her into a crashing bore is a waste of her time and ours. She's better than this.
'Cinderella Man' also misuses its villains. Bruce McGill and Craig Bierko have no minds of their own. McGill (one of the more underrated character actors) is the oily, money-grubbing boxing promoter and Bierko is the hulking champion and killer (literally) prizefighter. They're presented as selfish assholes and we're supposed to just trust the movie enough to hate them on general principle. I guess we're not smart enough to sympathize with both boxers in the big match and yet still root for Crowe.
Bierko (as Max Baer) does a decent job of channeling charismatic SOBs from boxing movies past. The real Baer killed 2 men in the ring and everyone thought he'd turn Jim Braddock into a corpse too. The real Baer was also haunted by what he had done. The movie makes him a sadist---and worse than being factually inaccurate---it's old. We've seen that before. It would have been much more interesting if Baer was torn between doing his best to knock out the unknockoutable Braddock, but concerned he might kill someone again.
Braddock's 2 friends (apparently, his ONLY 2 friends) have no scenes together and they're not connected at all. That's good because one of the roles is a plum and the other is a lemon. Paul Giamatti plays the feisty Joe Gould, Braddock's manager and corner man. He practically wills the fighter into the victory circle during the improbable past-his-prime comeback. Giamatti is better here than he was as the whiny Miles in 'Sideways'. This is just the latest in a run of strong performances by the one-time Harvey Pekar. Paddy Considine (so terrific as the dutiful dad in 'In America') is Mike Wilson, Braddock's fellow dock worker. This character is a distraction. Considine does what he can with crap.
What lingers in my mind now is, of course, the climactic boxing match between Braddock and Baer...but not because of who wins the fight. Whether or not our hero wins the championship isn't the issue. What matters is that Braddock survives against Baer. Really, the movie ends up being a 'Rocky' remake (which wasn't about winning or losing in the ring), but Howard doesn't even seem to realize it. All the Italian Stallion wanted to do was go the distance, win some respect (self- and otherwise), and get the girl. How discouraging that Howard forgot what his own film was about.
If for some reason you don't appreciate the world-class gifts of 'Cinderella Man's surly headliner, don't invest nearly two and a half hours in a pale imitation of better boxing movies. 'Cinderella Man' is a perfect example of why I think assigning a star rating to movies is pointless. Russell Crowe is fabulous. He's enough reason to see the picture. He's the MVP, the Barry Bonds of this project. But take away the superstar and the rest of the team wouldn't be nearly good enough to carry the load.
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