Brief review of screening and report of Q&A in Santa Monica 5/24
I saw Murph's post about the SoCal PBS affiliate hosting a series of advance
screenings in the Darrin Lee and I arrived quite early, being veterans of other Crowe activities,
but there was no need. We strolled in to check out the vintage 1939
theater, recently fitted out with the newest in film-viewing technology.
Darrin spoke knowledgably with the dude who changes the marquee about
platters and reels while I scoped out the entrances. We had a leisurely
dinner and returned at I loved the film, unequivocally. It's a powerful story, simply told. The same can be said for the film score. I think we both had tears at the same scene, the one I knew would get me, with the children, but neither of us cried. My emergency stash of tissues stayed dry. Instead, I laughed a lot more than I expected. I also felt chills, despair, and triumph, but the emotion that stands out was the overwhelming excitement. I found myself ducking, bobbing and wanting to swing with Jim. I could not keep from cheering for him a few times. Fortunately, the film seemed to have the same effect on everyone in the room. No one made a sound during the quiet scenes, while all around me I could see and hear people reacting during the fight sequences. I was flushed and exhausted by the time it ended. Brutal as it was in spots, and even knowing the outcome, I was too terrified to look away for even a second. It is completely satisfying, visually and emotionally. There was thunderous applause at the end, and then continued applause and calls at the director and actor's names. The moderator came out and introduced first Ron, who walked from the back of the theater to the front to strong applause, and then Russell, who received an instant standing ovation. The three took seats up front. We could see them blink. I saw no other cameras, so mine did not leave my purse. You'll have to take my word that he was gorgeous in jeans and that blue Braddock letterman's-style jacket with the shamrock and Bulldog of Bergen on the front. I took notes on the back of the program, so I will paraphrase from memory unless I wrote a word-for-word specific quote. Ron and Russell took a turn at answering most every question, sometimes going back and forth between them. They both speak with their hands and become quite animated in telling a story. Russell talked about the long process of getting Braddock's story to film,
including some of the people involved at different times with the
concept, including Harvey Weinstein. "Any day that gets Harvey Weinstein
off your back is a great day." Various actors were considered for
the part of Braddock. Russell jokes about what made Russell says, "I always remember what Ron says to me so I can use it later." He said that they both use this tactic against each other in attempts to argue a point or persuade. Russell recalled what Ron had told him about approaching each of the fires in Backdraft as a separate story, rather than as a whole. Russell suggested Ron approach each of Braddock's fights in the same manner. Ron acknowledged that he was initially uncertain about how to present the fight sequences, but that Russell's parallel with his Backdraft method made good sense to him. As Ron began to feel more confident about the project, he realized, "I was over-thinking the whole thing." Ron says that he did not need to do anything special to make the boxing sequences exciting, because "it's Russell Crowe." He had confidence that Russell would make the boxing sequences compelling and dynamic. While this is true, you will also see some wonderfully clever means of taking the viewer inside the ring and making us feel a part of the fight. I caught myself holding my breath often during these sequences. About why he wanted to play Braddock, Russell said, "I like who he was before he was a champion, when he was champion, and after. It's a beautiful, successful American life and I thought it should be told." He added that he thought Braddock's "greatest achievement was returning to normalcy," and re-stated the information shown at the end of the film about how Jim and Mae stayed together, how Jim remained "desperately in love with his wife", and in the same house they bought with his prize winnings. Russell also liked how, once his fighting career was over, Jim went to work doing things within his financial and skill capabilities. Russell mentioned that Jim briefly tried to operate a restaurant, "but that didn't work out too good. Cause you see, Jim could not charge people money for food." Russell said that while it is not at all necessary for him to like his character in order to play the part, he really enjoyed playing Jim and thinks that he likes him best of all his characters. About preparing to play a boxer, Russell said that Ron "goes out and gets the only boxing trainer whose name I would know." In answer to a question about his prior or ongoing interest in the sport, Russell said, "I am not a boxing fan, a fan of the sport. I am a fan of the boxer Kostya Tszyu. I was a fan of Muhammad Ali as a kid", and that he also admired Muhammad Ali "as a communicator". Russell said he always enjoyed sport, any sport, at its peak performance, mentioning that he had stayed up late a few nights watching the British curling team during the last Olympics. But as to whether he would try boxing again, "I've had my fill of being punched in the head. I enjoy a concussion, however, I like my teeth without cracks," he said, chuckling. "If you too want to have an ass like you did at eighteen, just run uphill, downhill". He described a near non-stop training regimen. "I had to really convince myself that I was the kind of man who was really okay with being covered in my own sweat ten hours a day, every day - and okay with the kind of rashes that come along with that." Ron started to talk about the guilt he would feel whenever he asked Russell to do a retake of a physically demanding scene. "I was worried that he would re-injure himself," Ron said sincerely, looking at the moderator. Russell looked at Ron like he'd just said the biggest lie and asked, "And how did you feel after the twelfth take, Ron?" Ron broke up at that and Russell called Ron "a pig." Russell made very loud, prolonged snorting sounds, cupping his hands as though he was feeding from a trough. Russell imitated Ron, all excited, "Come on, Russell! This time, do it bigger, now do it smaller, now do the pink version, now the purple one". Then he repeated the pig at the trough routine. There was a lot of laughter at this. Russell conceded that he is just as "greedy" as Ron and that is why they get on so well. He said, "if you don't want to work on a Ron Howard film, then don't make suggestions. Because if you suggest it, he's going to want to see it. He's going to want to see it his way, and then he's going to want to see yours." Russell also spoke in amazement of how quickly Ron puts the film together once the footage is shot. Russell said he studied old boxing footage and read interviews with Braddock in hopes of picking up some of his phrasing. There are two lines he says he took directly from Braddock and used in the film. He slips slightly into Jim's joisey accent, "If I could bring home de title and de turtle, dey'd be tickled," and "I tot dat was gold for de grand kiddies." At this point the moderator opened it up to audience questions. A woman
behind me asked about how he developed his A man asked if they had received any negative feedback from Max Baer's family due to his negative portrayal in the film. Russell did not answer the question directly, but gave a passionate response. Ron sat back and listened without reaction. "I think we were really generous to him," Russell said, leaning forward intently. Rather than cataloguing the negative, Russell mentioned "the one really decent thing that Max Baer ever did," which was to sew a Star of David on his trunks during the start of the Nazi attacks on the Jews and the Gypsies. Russell said he insisted that this detail be shown in the film. Russell said that while Baer was not a practicing Jew, he was born to a Jewish mother. Russell said he learned about Baer from Norman Mailer. Another man near the rear asked if Russell could give any details on Damon Runyon, the writer mentioned twice in the film and credited with coining the nickname Cinderella Man for Braddock. It was likely a soft lob, but Russell played off it with a look of shocked disgust. Pointing to the exit, he ordered, "You should go to a f*cking library right now. Are you an American?" Then he grinned a little and said how Runyan was a great American writer that everyone should read. They spoke for close to forty-five minutes before saying thanks and goodnight.
Runyon: "One of these days in your travels, a guy is going to come up to you and show you a nice brand-new deck of cards on which the seal is not yet broken, and this guy is going to offer to bet you that he can make the Jack of Spades jump out of the deck and squirt cider in your ear. But, son, do not bet this man, for as sure as you are standing there, you are going to end up with an earful of cider." "She has a laugh so hearty it knocks the whipped cream off an order of strawberry shortcake on a table fifty feet away."Tamara |
