Review

Review Date: 13-June-05
Spoiler Rating: Low
Juju Judgment: Just OK

Cinderella Man (2005)

Many people have compared "Cinderella Man" with "Seabiscuit" (2003), and with good reason: both are romanticized depictions of scrappy Depression-era sports heroes and both were designed to generate Oscar buzz before the traditional awards season gets underway. This latter trait is an unfortunate burden for any film to carry, for where polish is paramount, good storytelling is often brushed aside. Of these two contenders "Cinderella Man" is the better film, less manipulative and more respectful of the title character. Yet it's not the glorious, tear-jerking work of inspirational pop art that the filmmakers (and financiers) clearly meant it to be.

The movie stumbles early on by avoiding an explanation why its hero, James J. Braddock (Russell Crowe), went from an up-and-coming boxing star to a has-been dock hand who could barely feed his family. After a rosy opening centered on Braddock's lusty, loving relationship with his wife (Renée Zellweger), the story jumps ahead a few years to the Great Depression, when they have come upon hard times. This sets up poverty as the bad guy of the first half but prematurely removes the focus from Braddock himself. (We learn later that he failed to realize the promise of his early career even before he hit the skids.) Surviving the Depression with marriage and sanity intact is a notable feat, but important questions go unanswered as the melodrama begins and goes on ... and on ... and on. Who was this man (among many) who lost his future and endured so much? I don't know, because the picture doesn't see fit to tell me.

Crowe knows, however, and is willing to share the insight. Turning in yet another exemplary performance, he sells his character's skimpy persona as a Super Nice Fella Just Lookin' Fer a Break. (Ditto Zellweger with the Woman Who Stands By Her Man.) His portrayal of an essentially two-dimensional Hollywood fantasy deepens in the second half of the film as the enemy changes from poverty to Max Baer, the man-killing Champion of the World against whom Braddock was pitted after a miraculous comeback. At this point Crowe radiates a blind, wounded-animal grit that's equal parts courage, desperation, and love — a fitting rallying point for battered Americans with nothing left to lose. It's unfortunate that the script gets a little too Rocky at the same time, envisioning improbable Baer/Braddock confrontations outside the ring solely to increase the tension.

Eight months from now "Cinderella Man" may, in fact, garner an Oscar: Paul Giamatti is practically a lock for Supporting Actor (as Braddock's friend and manager), mostly because the Academy foolishly ignored him in "American Splendor" and "Sideways." One statuette for this movie would be more than enough. But maybe it's fitting that the modest little guy will emerge triumphant from the big, shiny, A-list production aimed at knocking out the masses and raking in the dough. Jim Braddock, whoever he was, might have liked that.

Copyright © 2005 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.