Back to CM News - 2005 |
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5/25/05 - I was lucky enough to go to a screeening of the movie last night here in Los Angeles. I can't say enough great things about this movie. Russell Crowe does an amazing job as he transforms himself into James J. Braddock. And Renee Zellwegger as his wife - Mae does an equally terrific job. And kudos to Paul Giamatti who portrays Braddock's agent is also terrific - should get an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor. And Ron Howard comes through again with a knock-out movie - even if you're not a boxing enthusiast, you're going to enjoy this movie - it's down to earth and tells a heart-warming story about a man surviving to keep his family together during the depression years and how he triumphs over all the odds that seem to be against him. The fight scenes will have you rooting for the good guy and feeling for him every time he gets punched around by his opponent. What an amazing story-teller Ron Howard has become over the years and this one is a MUST see on everyone's list. Go and watch it and enjoy. - Rob Daniel |
| I walk into work today….just like any other day….my boss walks up to me and says with a twinkle in her eye “guess what I have here in my hand”. Well, a Universal screening was happening tonight here in Tucson and she had two tickets to give to me. The movie was AMAZING! Authentic is the word that I have. The journey it takes you back to the depression is nothing short of cinematic magic. Russell and Rene were great together. They made you believe you were hovering over the era watching Jim and Mae’s life unfold. As usual, Russell can capture a mood, a feeling, anything just with his eyes. The children actors were believable. Paul Giamatti was awesome. No spoilers here but the audience was cheering (yes, me too) through several scenes. They were taking an exit poll and I didn’t here one derogatory comment. The people loved it. I know I’ll be back in line on June 3rd for the opening. Jackie B |
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5/18 - I was lucky enough to see a sneak preview of Cinderella Man, and I'm very proud to report that you will not be disappointed. It is a triumph for Russell and Ron Howard. Definitely puts our man in the Oscar race once again. Russ just disappears into the role. I won't give away any spoilers, but here's my first impressions: The crowd cheered! Broke out in applause in at least two other places besides the end. Rene was wonderful! Giamatti is going to get a best supporting oscar for this. And Russell was just perfect. Ron Howard did a wonderful job, keeping us on the edge of our seats and reeling us in, while not letting the tug at the heartstrings get too sappy. This is our new Russell, the father and husband. I don't think he could have done this role as well before getting married and having Charlie. He's so damned cute with those kids. Wonderful and strong, gentle and fierce. So very classy, our Jimmy. I saw one moment with a glimmer of Bud, but beyond that, it was all James Braddock. I don't know how he does it, recreates himself so completely for each role, but that's what he does. I was definitely entertained. And the best part... THERE WAS MORE SMOOCHING IN THIS MOVIE THAN ALL HIS OTHER MOVIES COMBINED!!!! Lucky Renee. God, wait and watch for that first kiss, girls. You'll feel it in your toes. Very much a boxing movie, but very much a movie for women too. Sigh... And I heard some older gals talking in bathroom afterwards, saying they felt like they'd just been through a fight themselves. You are absolutely in the ring with Braddock, and punch drunk after, but so pleasantly. And at this showing, there was one moment where the film stopped right in the middle of the final fight against Max Baer. You should have heard the boos. I thougth the crowd was going to start a riot. But they got it up and going again in about two minutes, thank goodness! Whew! OK, that's my first thoughts. Can't wait to see it again on opening day! Hugs, Isobel |
| 5/18
- I saw a preview in NYC, the movie was terrific, gritty, believable
cold, hungry. The depression became a reality, and the grace with which
Braddock lived his life up and down was portrayed very movingly by Russell
Crowe. I thought the movie was outstanding, believable and intense.
The boxing sequences were stunning and TOTALLY believable. Crowe put
in another fabulous performance. The subject matter was not as grandiose
as Gladiator, but the intensity Crowe creates was reminiscent of A Beautiful
Mind, which was also a terrific portrayal of an unusual subject. As I was not familiar with the story and its end, the tension in the final fight was almost unbearable. The audience rose to their feet to cheer and applause. See this movie - Anne L |
May 16, 2005 Saw a screening of Cinderella Man tonight. As posted before, our home was used for some of the pre-depression scenes. I’ll admit it. Before the screening, my thoughts were selfishly centered on wondering how long the house would be shown for and if it would look okay. Seeing the rest of the movie would be nice, but that was not really what I was there for. So what happened? Yes the house scenes were there. Yes, the place looked good and was shown longer than I thought it would be. But about 10 minutes into the film I forgot all about the “Our house is in a movie!” stuff. I was simply captivated. This is a beautiful film that takes you in without you even knowing. It’s even more remarkable when you consider that we all know the story and how it ends. It’s sort of predictable, and the trailers even lay it out for you. But none of that matters. The story telling is magnificent. You are not mentally jumping ahead to the final decision. You feel like you are hearing the story for the first time. And you are going to want to see it more than once. I don’t know how they did it. Nothing was overdone – nothing tries too hard. The word “honest” comes to mind. By “honest”, I don’t mean a letter perfect portrayal of Braddock’s life. I mean honest in that all the basic components of filmmaking – and the performances of Crowe and Giamatti are spectacular – are done exceptionally well. In time, I think other movies will come to be compared to Cinderella Man. It will become one of the references that others are judged against – especially Crowe’s utterly brilliant performance. We are just home
owners that lucked out by finding a note in the mailbox that our house
may be suitable for a movie. Other more knowledgeable folks will no
doubt give a more technical/critical review about acting, directing,
how the film works on this and that level, etc. All we know is it
is a film that should not be missed. |
| 5/5/05
- Cinderella Man is not the film you’d expect going in. One might
expect a real-life version of Rocky, with even more sentimentality.
But that is not what this film offers. Instead we get a vivid look into
both the Great Depression, and boxing. We see the big differences between
our little recession in the early part of this decade and the hopeless
nature of the collapse of the 1930s. The deep look into that part of
Jim Braddock’s story makes the boxing scenes stand out so much
more for their vividness and accuracy. One feels as if they are in the
depression, and one feels as if they are getting hit in the ring.
Russell Crowe portrays the dogged, moral determination of James J. Braddock with no flaws. As usual. Honesty is the touchstone of this character. And Paul Giamatti’s cornerman character works perfectly off the easy stillness of Crowe’s character. Renee Zellweger is making a habit of humorous, strong, and soft heroines, and this film is no different, but that’s not to say that she is phoning in the role. It is a perfect counterpart to Crowe’s Braddock. Very well done, and Oscar-worthy. - -C |
| 5/4/05
- I was one of the lucky ones in Denver to receive passes to see this
movie last night. Ron Howard has done it again. Russell Crowe is absolutely
amazing as Braddock and Paul Giamatti is equally impressive. One of
the rare times you will see a “period” movie and feel like
you are actually watching the story take place as it happens. I couldn’t
help but think about “Rocky” while I was watching. The story
is true so it makes you wonder if Sly Stallone didn’t pattern
his movie after James Braddock. What an inspirational story. In the
age of greedy athletes today, it’s incredible to see a true “Rags
to Riches” story about a great man not only in the ring but in
his personal life as well. I would give this movie 5 out of 5 stars.
-- D. Brad Hahn |
From a long time contributor to the site: 12/17/04 -- The
film is near perfect, I can't think anything wrong with it. It's very
assured, confident, doesn't force or beg for the audience's sympathy.
It's more about empathy than emotion. The pacing is spot on, every
scene breaths and doesn't feel rushed or forced. I felt the whole
film in my gut: sometimes it felt like lead, sometimes the exhilaration
was scarily visceral. I can't say enough good things about the actors: I
am not always impressed with Renee Zelwegger, especially when she
plays serious strong women. But her Mae is real, earthy, strong, Renee
resists any temptation to try too hard and she has great chemistry
with Russell. I am not sure what acting talent is but obviously Russell has it in spades. What's more impressive is how he chooses to use it, the choices he makes when he acts. His Braddock is very present but quiet. Russell resists any temptation to play him big, as what he does is important or dramatic or historic. But it's so compelling to watch. No surprises there. Although you have to wonder and scratch your head, what makes someone so watch able when he downplays everything. He doesn't try to push other actors' off the screen, he has an impressive capacity for inner stillness, even when acting with someone like Paul Giamatti (no small feat). The film direction and camera angles don't manipulate us to choose Braddock as the hero, which makes the audience's involvement with him more intimate. I won't say more because I don't want to spoil it for anyone. But it's so tempting to get into details, scenes, interactions, textures because the film is all about these things. |
| 11/13/04 - "Have to say that after viewing Cinderella Man on Thursday night, I have mixed feelings. I do not like boxing and cannot understand why anyone would want to watch another person beat the "pulp" out of another man, so in that respect I did not like the movie. However, the storyline of Cinderella Man was excellent. The movie brought me to tears at some points (and I am not a cryer at movies!!). It depicted the Depression Era quite well, it was very realistic and very moving. My husband said the movie was a "Rocky-like" movie and loved it. Russell Crowe is not my favorite actor but he was very good in his portrayal of James J. Braddock. Renee Zellweger was excellent as his wife Mae. The only things I did not like was that they had a scene showing the background of New York which was so obviously a painting and did not look good at all - very fake looking. But I did enjoy the movie even with all the fighting that went on. It was not slow moving at all. In fact, when it ended we were very surprised to see how long it had gone on. I would give the movie five stars on a 1-5 basis with 5 being a great movie." jmk |
| 11/12/04 -- Another view of last night's screening of CM from Doug: "I also saw the screening of Cinderella Man last night and was quite disappointed. I went in with somewhat high expectations given the combination of Ron Howard and Russell Crowe but came away from the movie pretty empty. The premise of the movie was fairly basic, the fall and eventual rise of a boxer during the Depression Era. The performances by Russell Crowe & Renee Zellwegger were both very good, as expected, but the story had a lot to be desired. It did not evoke the emotion that the movie was desperately trying to exploit from the audience. Rather, the slow pace and rather predictable storyline just never brought the movie to any level of greatness. The boxing scenes were decent and carried the movie as much as it could, with some interesting cinematography, however that in itself was not enough to have me enjoy this movie. Its melodramatic nature did seem to pull in some of the audience, but even Rocky IV does a better job of this in my mind." |
| 11/12/04 -- From Susan C: (No Spoilers): "Hey there - great site - I visit it often. I am just back from a screening of Cinderella Man in Sherman Oaks, Ca. Apparently, we were the first audience to view it (according to the marketing reps). It had a running time of 2 hrs and 20 min and a temporary score was used. The film was excellent and Russell was amazing (big surprise). I'm not a huge Rene Zellweger fan, but I liked her quite a bit here. Paul Giamatti was also amazing and he and Russell had great chemistry. Paddy Consadine was extremely under used. The children were great - raw talents, not trying to play "cute". I detest boxing, but I must say the fights really held my attention. They were realistic, but not too graphic. The audience applauded during the film twice and of course for a long time at the end. I'm sure it will be a huge Oscar contender and Russell's nomination is a lock. Thanks and keep up the good work!" |
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