Russell Crowe, Renée Zellweger and Paul Giamatti in the Ron Howard movie ‘Cinderella Man’

The Ron Howard produced and directed movie Cinderella Man (2005) tells the story of boxer James J. Braddock. Penny Marshall and Brian Grazer also produced the movie, set largely in New Jersey and New York City, New York.

(Russell Crowe as James J. Braddock in the Ron Howard movie Cinderella Man).

The movie focuses largely on the difficult road to an opportunity to compete for a boxing championship of Braddock, as portrayed by Russell Crowe. The difficult road is one that takes us through the story of Braddock‘s family and his manager, Joe Gould. Paul Giamatti portrayed Gould, who became rich along with Braddock for a fight with Joe Louis briefly mentioned by the movie before the closing credits.

(Paul Giamatti as Joe Gould in the Ron Howard movie Cinderella Man).

The adversity of the movie presented itself when James Braddock suffered a setback in the ring that he couldn’t adequately box through. The film set raised the difficulty of the Great Depression, which really hurt Gould, Braddock and each of their families. Renée Zellweger portrayed Mae Braddock, the wife to the boxer and mother to James Braddock‘s three kids. Connor Price, Patrick Louis and Ariel Waller portrayed the three children.

(From left, Ariel Waller as Rosemarie Braddock, Patrick Louis as Howard Braddock, Connor Price as Jay Braddock and Renée Zellweger as Mae Braddock in the Ron Howard movie Cinderella Man).

The difficulty raised by the injury raised some difficulties in managing families juxtaposed against the notion of so-called Hoovervilles that developed in the 1930s. The family and James Braddock, the man, struggled with this and an action that the boxing commission had taken following the setback experienced by Braddock in the boxing ring.

(From left, Bruce McGill as James J. Johnston and Craig Bierko as Max Baer in the Ron Howard movie Cinderella Man).

The compelling stories of interpersonal turmoil and the strains the circumstance had for many were artfully dramatized in the movie. The comeback that followed, especially in spelling out the reputation of rival boxer Max Baer, seem to have been exaggerated a bit. Craig Bierko portrayed Max Baer.

(From left, actor Russell Crowe and director Ron Howard onsite for the Ron Howard movie Cinderella Man).

Certain themes from Cinderella Man echo the story told by Rocky (1976), though many points separate the larger story as well. Cinderella Man takes you to an emotionally more difficult place than Rocky, which speaks to the credit of this movie. I give Cinderella Man as directed by Ron Howard 4.25-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Saturday, June 18, 2022