Cinderella Man

I can't quite understand how I could accept Howard's stereotypical combinations of blows finished off with uppercuts, but he was reliably able to knock me to the ground right when it was needed. I find it difficult to argue why this film is so impressive with all its transparency and clichés. Maybe it's thanks to Russell Crowe, who once again proves that he plays white Hollywood heroes better than anyone else. Maybe it's the grateful blend of a social motif with the male-symbol motif. The fact is that I watched James J. Braddock's duels whilst holding my breath, literally glued to the screen. Yet it is not a biographical film, but rather it is a Rocky variation transplanted into the times of the economic crisis of the 1930s and given the necessary "based on a true story" line. The fact is that the joy of using well-established schemes literally seeps from Cinderella Man, the joy of telling a story using the most proven means. I had similar feelings, for example, while watching Zwick's The Last Samurai. One simply knows what will happen in the next few seconds and enjoys how well it is done. A feature film by the numbers that knocked me out... (02/10/2006)

So here we have another powerful story about one unbreakable boxing soul, and also another important notch in the cinematic field with the subtitle of sports drama. Howard is a more than skilled and interesting director who never fully disappoints, and Crowe is one of Hollywood's best actors at the moment, one that makes you root for him all the time. As in A Beautiful Mind, their collaboration turned out to be more than satisfactory, with a story full of tried and tested but mandatory clichés (guess how it will end), an extremely likeable hero, excellent scenes from the ring and a true boxing heart that almost forces you to buy gloves and get initiated into the secrets of this purely American sport. Yes, everything is perhaps too much in place, and the filmmakers, however precise and skilful, deliver only what the audience wants to see beforehand. I'm not saying it's bad, the word itself is inadequate given the previous superlatives, but Cinderella Man will never be a maverick among boxing dramas, even though it tries very hard. (01/02/2013)

Cinderella Man is, until now, the best film by Ron Howard and possibly the best boxing film of my life. Howard may not bring a fresh breeze to the well-known genre, but he skillfully manipulates the given formulas and squeezes out emotions from me like a poem. When Braddock suffers, tears well up in my eyes, and when he fights, I have inclinations to root for him. And a huge praise to Crowe, because what he delivers is simply unbelievable, and it's a shame that he didn't imitate a similar role in another contemporary genre film later on. Russell, this was your night. (18/07/2006)

Ron Howard takes a risk this time in playing games with viewers’ trust, and he finds even greater success than last time in terms of emotional tension. During the final match, I felt the blows that Braddock takes just as much as his wife and I could tell from the viewers around me that I wasn’t alone. Russell Crowe is truly excellent. (06/10/2005)

The life story of Jim Braddock is, of course, an excellent subject for a film. This famous boxer was from the interwar generation that shaped the dreams of ordinary people in the boxing ring, inspired them and gave them hope. After all, all of the names in the heavyweight champion category are well-known names: Jess Willard, Jack Dempsey, Gene Tunney, Max Schmeling, Jack Sharkey, Primo Carnera, Max Baer, James J. Braddock, and Joe Louis. They are all heroes of the modern age. Yet Braddock was a miracle, an ordinary guy who toiled through poverty and hardship during the Depression and rose to the top by beating two-foot giant Max Baer, a victory no one was expecting. The movie basically wrote itself. Russell Crowe outdid himself once again, and there were no dry eyes in the movie theater. I could imagine a dozen better actresses in Renée Zellweger's place, but never mind that. Cinderella Man will definitely be in the hall of fame as one of the best boxing movies. Right up there with the drama portrayed in the Schmeling vs. Louis match. (26/08/2020)