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... [More]
Starring: Russell Crowe, Renee Zellweger, Paul Giamatti, Craig Bierko
Director: Ron Howard
Reviews for Cinderella Man
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 2.5/4 |
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. Full Review |
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 3.5/5 |
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Intensely moving and superbly crafted....Russell Crowe’s portrayal of boxer James Braddock, is nothing short of brilliant.. Full Review |
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3.5/5 |
Cinderella Man plays like a movie actively hunting for awards. But it's also a pretty darn good story. Full Review |
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Handsome, manipulative, simplistic. It packs an uplift that bludgeons you into submission. Full Review |
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Howard's movie skillfully delivers that primal, heart-pounding satisfaction that is the promise of all boxing tales. Full Review |
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As for the fights themselves, Howard brings nothing new to the canvas. Like the movie as a whole, they work fine enough, even while encased in leaden certitude. Full Review |
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3/4 |
Cinderella Man is a contender, but it's not exactly a knockout. Full Review |
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3.5/4 |
A cross between Seabiscuit (because of the Depression) and Rocky (because of the sport), yet a fine enough film to stand on its own, even if the production falls short of both in terms of its emotional punch. Full Review |
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And as far as Cinderella's pumpkins go, though the movie ends with Braddock's boxing triumph in Hollywood's notorious freeze-frame approach to history, both Braddock and Baer went on to be decked by Joe Louis. Full Review |
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As entertaining and uplifting a film as we'll get all year. Full Review |
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4/4 |
A fine alternative to the louder and more brainless summer movies competing with it -- an excellent drama that relies on heart and action instead of schmaltz and melodrama. Full Review |
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Howard may have replicated the family scenes as accurately as if he'd found film from a camera hidden in the walls of the original Braddock apartment, and yet the movie can't shake the sense that the scenes away from the boxing ring are somehow false Full Review |
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The film wallows in the poverty and degradation of Crowe and his family, which is a real downer for a supposed feel-good movie . . . Full Review |
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The fight scenes have a stinging authenticity and, although at 144 minutes it outstays its welcome, this is Howard’s best film since Apollo 13 Full Review |
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3/4 |
Stirring and inspirational in the best and worst senses of these terms, this fact-based melodram is stamped by the populist and middlebrow sensibility of both director Ron Howard and writer Akiva Goldsman. Full Review |
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2.5/4 |
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. Full Review |
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5/5 |
I have never rooted for a sporting event in my life like I rooted for Braddock. I was on the edge of my couch, balled fists on my knees, praying he would prevail...superbly edited, beautifully shot, sensitively acted, and with fantastic grit and texture Full Review |
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