Cinderella Man

Cinderella Man (2005) is about a real boxer of the Great Depression, James J. Braddock. Braddock was a good fighter in the twenties. Then he broke his hand, lost fight after fight, and had his licence taken away. When the Depression hit he went to work on the docks with that broken hand. His electricity was cut off, his children were sent to relatives, he took public relief. Then promoters short of an opponent called him in as a one night filler, and he won. Then he won another. The real subject is not boxing but hunger. The best scenes have no ring in them: a kitchen with no food, a moment when the relief money is paid back, a child stealing a sausage. Ron Howard directed, his second film with Russell Crowe after A Beautiful Mind. Paul Giamatti plays his manager and was nominated for supporting actor. The fights are staged to the rules and technique of the period; they do not look like modern boxing, and that is deliberate. It underperformed commercially. Opening in summer, and a title that gave no indication it was a boxing film, were both blamed. The dark portrait of Max Baer was considered unfair by his family and they objected to it. It runs 144 minutes. Good for: sports drama, true stories, and period film. Less good for: it is long, the sentiment runs high, and the ending is predictable.