A person cannot claim to have seen all of the great boxing movies if they have not seen Cinderella Man.
Although past boxing movies like Rocky and Million Dollar Baby gradually develop the characters and the story, Cinderella Man squeezes at your heart from the beginning and doesn't let go for single second. There is no time to adjust. You just plummet off into the deep end with no warning, and boy, what an honor it is.
Through excellent storytelling, director Ron Howard creates the world of the Shantytown and Hooverville, New York while Russell Crowe recreates the life of James Braddock. Cinderella Man starts out in the pre-Depression era, and shows Braddock in his boxing glory days. He drives to his suburban, middle-class home with his manager, played by Paul Giamatti.
The movie dissolves abruptly into the post-Depression Era and shows Braddock with a broken right hand that was a reminder of his last fight before he was exiled from boxing. His family lives in a rundown shack and has fake-teeth inserts. Down and out, Braddock begins fighting for his life to keep his family together and survive a malicious winter.
Fortunately, spring comes around with new beginnings and a chance for redemption. With his hand healed and his family healthy, Braddock has the opportunity to redeem himself by taking another fighter's place in the ring. Despite being a heavy underdog, he wins with only two spoonfuls of corned-beef hash in his stomach.
Braddock's manager spends all of his own money to train him and get him back into the boxing world. With a broken right hand, he has a new desire to use his left hand. He goes in round-in and round-out until he finds himself back in Madison Square Garden facing the heavyweight boxing killer, Max Baer. I don't need to tell you the rest because it's a Cinderella story.
Besides focusing strictly on the fighting inside the rink, Ron Howard pulls in the audience even further by capturing an entire nation on the standstill, listening anxiously on the radio as if their lives were on the line, too.
Please do not be fooled by the title. Cinderella Man is not a man's version of Cinderella. James Braddock represents the American dream. He doesn't just win the fight. He wins everybody's hearts with his tenacity and drive make his family happy. He's not a prince looking for a princess. He's like every one of us, which reaffirms this movie is a classic.
I give Cinderella Man 5 out of 5 Roses.
Reach the reporter at monis.rose@asu.edu.