LaFountaine

“Cinderella Man” Movie

Yesterday I saw the movie “Cinderella Man”, which starred: Russell Crowe, Renée Zellweger, Bruce McGill, Ariel Waller and Paddy Considine.

The storyline involved the following: “As one of history's better sports stories, Cinderella Man focuses on legendary prizefighter James J. Braddock (Russell Crowe), who, during the Great Depression, became a common-man hero. Once a boxer on the rise, Braddock hits rock bottom with the rest of the broken-down, beaten-up and out-of-luck American populace, and is forced to give up his dreams of being a world champion to find work. We get to sit around with Braddock, his loving, supportive but weepy wife Mae (Renee Zellweger) and their starving, cold children for the first hour of the film, feeling mightily depressed indeed. But then things pick up when Braddock gets a last-chance bid to make something of himself by returning to the ring. Spurred on by an inner determination--and his hardnosed manager, Joe (Paul Giamatti)--Braddock miraculously makes an almost mythical rise to the top. The underdog to beat all underdogs--yes, even topping a nobody horse named Seabiscuit--the pugilist ends up taking on the heavyweight champ of the world, Max Baer (Craig Bierko), who's renowned for having killed two men in the ring. And wins. The roar from the people, who look to their ''Cinderella Man'' as their champion, is deafening.”

I give the movie a “B+”, and the movie is worth the price of an admission ticket, a large popcorn and a medium soft drink. The movie had excellent acting, but there was little room for character development. The movie was very predictable.

posted by Frank LaFountaine @ 9:22 AM