Main Cast: Russell Crowe, Renée Zellweger, Paul Giamatti, Craig Bierko, Paddy Considine
Release Year: 2005
Country: US
Run Time: 144 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
The true story of an athlete who achieved his greatest success against the most daunting odds of his life is brought to the screen in this historical drama. In the 1920s, James Braddock (Russell Crowe) from Bergen, NJ, was a promising contender in professional boxing; he had strength, spirit, and tenacity, but the combination of a serious hand injury and a 1929 defeat in a bout with light heavyweight champ Tommy Loughran sent his career into a serious tailspin. As Braddock's career in the ring dried up, the Great Depression put a stake through the heart of America's economy, and Braddock found himself working at the New York docks for pitiful wages as he tried to support his wife, Mae (Renée Zellweger), and three children. Desperate for money, Braddock turned to his former trainer and manager Joe Gould (Paul Giamatti), who was unexpectedly able to scare up a bout for him, battling John Griffin at Madison Square Garden. While conventional wisdom had it that Braddock was too old, out of shape, and out of practice to have any chance of winning, he defeated Griffin, and continued beating his opponents with a powerful left hook that had been intensified by years of punishing dock work. In a nation desperate for good news, Braddock's surprising comeback became a tonic to struggling workers and unemployed people, and all eyes were on Braddock when in 1935 he took on powerful heavyweight champion Max Baer (Craig Bierko) in what was both literally and figuratively the fight of his life. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
Cinderella Man probably isn't Ron Howard's best film, but it might be his most quintessential one. A man whose talents have always rested on getting audiences to like and root for characters, Howard uses every weapon -- acting, casting, lighting, editing, art direction, music -- at a filmmaker's disposal to win viewers over. He won more than half the battle to make Braddock likable as soon as he cast Russell Crowe. Braddock offers the kind of role he does better than anybody -- a man with a maelstrom of emotions swelling under the surface who, when given the opportunity, is able to exorcise those feelings in physical activity. He allows Braddock to lose much of his dignity without making him pathetic. Howard's ability to get good performances, his judicious lack of a saccharine score, and the detailed but never showy period details add up to a very Howardesque quality that might be called melodramatic realism. There are almost always interesting supporting performances in Howard's films, and Cinderella Man is no exception. Paul Giamatti, an actor simply unable to do anything out of character no matter who the character is, serves up yet another award-caliber performance. Set in a world that would not seem to reward intelligence, Giamatti's character thrives on that very attribute. He knows how to manipulate those around him, but never does so in a harmful way. His scenes with ace character actor Bruce McGill are textbook examples of great no-frills acting. The film has moments where it overreaches for the melodrama, and the drive of the film stalls slightly during the extended third act, where the audience is left waiting for too long for the final fight to start, but Cinderella Man is at its heart old-fashioned, crowd-pleasing entertainment made and performed without cynicism. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
Bruce McGill - Jimmy Johnston; Ron Canada - Joe Jeanette; David Huband - Ford Bond; Connor Price - Jay Braddock; Ariel Waller - Rosemarie Braddock; Patrick Louis - Howard Braddock; Rosemarie DeWitt - Sara; Linda Kash - Lucille Gould; Nicholas Campbell - Sporty Lewis; Gene Pyrz - Jake; Alicia Johnston; Troy Amos-Ross; Mark Simmons; Art Binkowski; David Litziinger; Rance Howard; Angelo Dundee
Credit
Dan Yarhi - Art Director, Peter Grundy - Art Director, Louisa Velis - Associate Producer, Kathleen McGill - Associate Producer, Jane Jenkins - Casting, Janet Hirshenson - Casting, Nick Powell - Choreography, Angelo Dundee - Consultant/advisor, Peter Heller - Consultant/advisor, Steve Lucescu - Consultant/advisor, Jack Newfield - Consultant/advisor, Suzanne Wasserman - Consultant/advisor, Mike DeLisa - Consultant/advisor, Daniel Orlandi - Costume Designer, William M. Connor - First Assistant Director, Ron Howard - Director, Todd Hallowell - Second Unit Director, Mike Hill - Editor, Dan Hanley - Editor, Todd Hallowell - Executive Producer, Thomas Newman - Composer (Music Score), Lance Anderson - Makeup, Ann Brodie - Makeup, David Leroy Anderson - Makeup Special Effects, Wynn P. Thomas - Production Designer, Salvatore Totino - Cinematographer, Brian Grazer - Producer, Ron Howard - Producer, Penny Marshall - Producer, Gordon White - Set Designer, Michael Madden - Set Designer, Russell Moore - Set Designer, David Hirschfield - Set Designer, John J. Thomson - Sound/Sound Designer, Cliff Hollingsworth - Screen Story, Akiva Goldsman - Screenwriter, Cliff Hollingsworth - Screenwriter, Glen Keenan - Second Unit Camera, Mark O. Forker - Visual Effects Supervisor, Laird McMurray - Special Effects Coordinator, Chic Ciccolini III - Supervising Sound Editor, Gordon Sim - Set Decorator, James Whitaker - Co-Executive Producer
James J. Braddock (Russell Crowe), an Irish-American hard-nosed boxer, formerly a light heavyweight contender, is forced to give up on boxing after breaking his hand in the ring. As the United States enters the Great Depression, Braddock works at a variety of menial jobs to support his family, but still dreams of somehow returning to boxing and making it big. Thanks to a last minute cancellation by another boxer, Braddock gets a second chance to fight but is put up against the number two contender in the world by the promoters who see Braddock as nothing more than a punching bag. Braddock stuns the boxing experts and fans with a third round knockout of his formidable opponent. Fighting with permanent injuries to his hands, Braddock continues to win and before long he comes to represent the hopes and aspirations of the American public coping with the Depression. Dubbed the "Cinderella Man," in one of the biggest upsets in boxing history, he would eventually defeat the seemingly invincible Max Baer (Craig Bierko) to become the heavyweight champion of the world.
During filming in Toronto, several areas were redressed to resemble 1930s New York. The Richmond Street side of the The Bay’s Queen Street store was redressed as Madison Square Garden, complete with fake store fronts and period stop lights. A stretch of Queen Street East between Broadview and Carlaw was also made up to appear to be from the 1930s and dozens of period cars were parked along the road. Maple Leaf Gardens was also used for all the fight scenes. Many scenes were filmed in the Distillery District. Filming also took place in Hamilton, Ontario at the harbour for the dock workers' scene.[1]
Although the movie received very good reviews from most critics [2] and audiences, it fared relatively poorly at the box office during its first several weeks. During its North American theatrical run, the movie (which cost $88 million) had earned only approximately $60 million.[3] There are several theories as to why ticket sales were so low:
Timing
The film was released in summer, the season of the blockbuster. Would-be Oscar nominees are usually released from autumn onwards, culminating around the Christmas holidays. It also coincided relatively closely with Million Dollar Baby, another boxing movie that was extremely popular and well-reviewed. Some fans believe that Russell Crowe's outlandish behavior at a NYC hotel in June of that year where he threw a phone at a worker may have contributed to the poor box office support of his film.
Depiction of Max Baer
Max Baer is portrayed as a brutal person who behaves inappropriately outside the ring and viciously inside it (to the point of killing two opponents in the ring). Baer's relatives and boxing historians have criticized the film's depiction of him, arguing that he killed only one man in the ring, Frankie Campbell, not two (in the movie, it is stated that he also caused the--slightly delayed--death of Ernie Schaaf, something commonly claimed by the press at the time, but never proven), and was considered by many to be a gentleman. This is supported by historical evidence which shows that Baer's demeanor, both within and outside the ring, was much less brutal than the film portrayed, and he often cracked jokes.
However, the portrayal of Max Baer's style of boxing in the movie is very close to what happened in the actual boxing contest. [4]
The author of the book on which the movie was based has asserted that Baer was kind, charismatic, loved and respected, and pointed out the emotional pain that Baer endured the rest of his life following Campbell's death, and the fact that he gave purses from his bouts to Campbell's family to help give Campbell's children an education.[5]
The depiction of Max Baer in the film is no different from his depiction in the press at the time, and this image was often used by promoters to attract interest in his fights. Also, the Max Baer on screen never actually boasts about killing Campbell or Schaaf, although he does warn Braddock that he may die if he fights him, and offers to "take care" of his wife once he is gone, blowing a kiss to her as he does so. The real Max Baer (who was also an actor) starred as a much more negatively depicted, hostile boxer in the movie The Harder They Fall, which holds many similarities to him in real life.
Max Baer was actually a Jewish activist – he wore a large Star of David on his boxing shorts in fights. That star makes it easy to distinguish Baer from Braddock in the black and white films of the original boxing contest. [6]
Exhibitors' refund offers
In a campaign to boost ticket sales after the film's disappointing opening, AMC Theatres advertised on June 24, 2005 that in 30 markets (about 150 theaters nationwide), it would offer a refund to any ticket-buyer dissatisfied with the film.[7] The advertisement, published in The New York Times and other papers and on internet film sites, read, "AMC believes Cinderella Man is one of the finest motion pictures of the year! We believe so strongly that you'll enjoy Cinderella Man we're offering a Money Back Guarantee." The promotion moderately increased box office revenue for a short period, while at least 50 patrons demanded refunds. Following suit, Cinemark Theatres also offered a money-back guarantee in 25 markets that did not compete with AMC Theaters. AMC had last employed such a strategy (in limited markets) for the 1988 release of Mystic Pizza,[8] while 20th Century Fox had unsuccessfully tried a similar ploy for its 1994 remake of Miracle on 34th Street.
