At moments it almost had me, but for the most part I just felt cold and watched with all the interest of a disgruntled spectator.
Cinderella Man (2005)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:200
Fresh:160
Rotten:40
Average Rating:7.4/10
Consensus: With grittiness and an evocative sense of time and place, Cinderella Man is a powerful underdog story. And Ron Howard and Russell Crowe prove to be a solid combination.
Runtime: 2 hrs 25 mins
Genre: Dramas
US Box Office: $61,548,295
Synopsis: Academy Award®-winning producer Brian Grazer, director Ron Howard and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman (all Oscar® winners for 2001's A Beautiful Mind) are reunited with Oscar® winner Russell Crowe for... Academy Award®-winning producer Brian Grazer, director Ron Howard and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman (all Oscar® winners for 2001's A Beautiful Mind) are reunited with Oscar® winner Russell Crowe for the Universal Pictures-Miramax Films-Imagine Entertainment production, Cinderella Man. Starring opposite Crowe is two-time Oscar® nominee Renée Zellweger. Crowe stars in the story inspired by the life of legendary athlete Jim Braddock, a once-promising light heavyweight boxer forced into retirement after a string of losses in the ring. As the nation enters the darkest years of the Great Depression, Braddock accepts a string of dead-end jobs to support his wife, Mae (Renée Zellweger), and their children, while never totally abandoning his dream of boxing again. Thanks to a last minute cancellation, Braddock finds himself back in the ring against the second-ranked world contender--and to everyone's amazement, Braddock wins in the third round. Despite being pounds lighter than his opponents and repeated injuries to his hands, Braddock continues to fight against challengers and win. Carrying on his shoulders the hopes and dreams of the disenfranchised masses, Braddock, dubbed the "Cinderella Man," faces his toughest challenger in Max Baer (Craig Bierko), the heavyweight champion of the world, renowned for having killed two men in the ring. Cinderella Man stars Russell Crowe, Renée Zellweger and Craig Bierko; is produced by Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Penny Marshall; is written by Cliff Hollingsworth, C. Gaby Mitchell, Akiva Goldsman; and is directed by Ron Howard. The film is a Universal Pictures/Miramax Films co-production of an Imagine Entertainment presentation, with Universal Pictures distributing domestically and Buena Vista International handling the international distribution of the film for Miramax. [More]
Starring: Russell Crowe, Renee Zellweger, Paul Giamatti, Craig Bierko
Starring: Russell Crowe, Renee Zellweger, Paul Giamatti, Craig Bierko, Bruce McGill, Paddy Considine
Director: Ron Howard
Director: Ron Howard
Screenwriter: Ron Howard, Akiva Goldsman, Cliff Hollingsworth
Producer: Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Penny Marshall, Todd Hallowell
Composer: Thomas Newman
Studio: Universal Pictures
Reviews for Cinderella Man
Intensely moving and superbly crafted....Russell Crowe’s portrayal of boxer James Braddock, is nothing short of brilliant..
Mature and unsentimental. Crowe’s commitment to truthful acting triumphs along with Bierko’s breakout role as his tormenter.
The changes made to Baer's personality simply strike me as unnecessary here, not to mention poor filmmaking.
I only wish Howard could have shaped this and the other performances a little, toning them down or leaving a bit of a rough edge.
Howard's movie skillfully delivers that primal, heart-pounding satisfaction that is the promise of all boxing tales.
An endearing story that will keep you at the edge of your seat, the edge of a cheer, the edge of a tear.
At the center of all this richness is another irresistible star turn by Crowe. As his Oscar-winning performance in Gladiator proved, no contemporary actor is better at conveying an uncluttered personal integrity and nobility of spirit.
Es un cuento de hadas necesario para el cinéfilo que tiene que padecer películas pretenciosas o agresivas. El mundo necesita héroes, aunque sean de celuloide.
Crowe delivers powerful punch. "Cinderella Man" first Oscar-contender of the year.
Ron Howard and Russell Crowe have once again combined their efforts to create a big Hollywood biopic that exudes the strong whiff of Oscar bait.
The specifics of past-due notices and hunger pains are as important to Howard's story as the prizefights and the period detail.
Its charms are skin-deep and rote, technically proficient and signifying very little.
It lands a few solid punches, but never achieves anything close to a knock-out.
Braddock only wants another shot at boxing to buy milk for the kids. Cue the heavenly choir.
The fight scenes hurt, not because they're edited like quicksilver or nimbly staged -- they are -- but because we are made to care so deeply for the title character.
...won't ever be considered among the great boxing movies. But it does captivatingly encapsulate the guts and gumption that made Braddock such an inspiration...
A tad bipolar, Cinderella Man's still remarkable film making...Russell Crowe is again, master and commander of what it is he does so well.
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