Cinderella Man

Cinderella Man is a true story of James J. Braddock, former heavyweight boxing champion. Braddock is a down and out boxer in the depression, desperate for any means back in the ring to keep his family off the streets. The movie is a success in that it is everything it was made to be. Director Ron Howard is a very capable director, having made several wonderful films, including A Beautiful Mind, Apollo 13, and Willow. He's also made a few duds, likehis live-action version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and 2006's overrated The Da Vinci Code. Depending on how you look at Cinderella Man, it could be placed into either category.
In the pros corner, Cliff Hollingsworth's script hits all the right notes, tugging at the heartstrings at every opportunity. The film was made to be an oscar-winner and it shows. Sporting an inspiring story in a historical setting and overall good acting, Cinderella Man is a contender. Russel Crowe turns in an excellent performance as always, and Paul Giamatti is an good foil to Crowe. Both actors are always above average in every film they act in. Renee Zellweger is adequate in her large in theory, but small in impact role. As too often happens with Zellweger, she is given an atrocious accent, but she does an okay job of working with it. The cinematography is good enough, no complaints there, and the music was unobtrusive and stereotypical.
In the opposite corner is the movie's downfall, it's overbearing and hypocritical sentimentality. Throughout, the scripting feels manipulating and forced. When the action goes into slo-mo and the music rises in tone and volume, you know you're being played. This can be a good thing sometimes, many films succeed in playing upon your emotions and making a great moive, in Cinderella Man however, such an emphasis is put upon the emotions that the story just becomes one-dimensional and pointless. Braddock is turned into such a bleach-clean human being that you can't help but root for such a pure character. The villain, Max Baer, in the movie is the epitome of evil, heartlessly killing two opponents in the ring, while in real life, Baer was a good man who only killed one man accidentally and was sorrowful for the rest of his life, sending a part of each purse that he won to the man's family.
That said, I did enjoy the movie the first time that I saw it. It was only after another viewing that I started to dislike it. It's an adequate enough film, one-dimensional, but inspiring, just don't expect it to be something you want to see over and over again.
-J