‘Cinderella Man’ an Oscar contender

JOHN DEPKO

Editor’s note: Today the Pilot presents an occasional feature, Reel

Critics Double Take: two movie critics providing opinions of one

movie.

We all know the offbeat boxing movie “Million Dollar Baby” knocked

out the competition to take the 2004 Best Picture award. Cynics might

argue that win was the rationale for making “Cinderella Man,” which

looks like this year’s top contender for the same honor.

It’s a more conventional fight film than “Baby,” but the gritty

true story at the heart of this drama gives it real-life punch.

Director Ron Howard left nothing to chance, as he teamed up with

the same producer, screenwriter and superstar actor involved in the

making of his last Oscar winner, “A Beautiful Mind.” They have pooled

their talents to create a top-notch production that will garner

several Academy nominations. Like “Titanic” and “Seabiscuit,” the

audience may know the historical outcome in advance, but the

compelling story still demands our rapt attention.

Russell Crowe continues to prove himself to be one of the finest

actors of his generation. He gives another complex and bravura

performance as Jim Braddock, a real-life boxing hero of the Great

Depression. Renee Zellweger is touching and believable as his loving

but practical wife.

But Paul Giamatti steals the show as Braddock’s sharp-witted

manager who keeps them both in the ring despite years of destitution

and heartbreak. Paul should be a lock for a best supporting actor

nod.

Howard skillfully re-creates the look and feel of New York’s

hard-luck streets in the 1930s. The scenes inside Madison Square

Garden are as vivid as the smoke-filled newsreels of the era.

Be forewarned that the fight scenes are graphic, brutal and tough

to watch at times. But the background is a very real and captivating

story told in the best traditions of old-fashioned Hollywood.

* JOHN DEPKO is a Costa Mesa resident and a senior investigator

for the Orange County public defender’s office.

What a marvelous actor Russell Crowe is. In his best film roles --

“The Insider,” “L.A. Confidential” and “A Beautiful Mind” -- he has

transformed himself, not only physically, but he has also gotten so

subtly inside his character that you forget it’s an actor you’re

watching.

He can make a good movie seem great just on the strength of his

performance. Now you can add “Cinderella Man” to that list.

The latest film from director Ron Howard, who also made “A

Beautiful Mind,” is based on the unlikely but true story of James J.

Braddock, the Bulldog of Bergen, who got a second chance in his

career as a boxer during the Great Depression.

It’s a film that touches on everyone’s willingness to pull for the

underdog; a sort of “Rocky” meets “Seabiscuit.” Like that famous

little thoroughbred, Braddock -- the guy who went from the soup line

to Madison Square Garden -- caught the nation’s heartstrings and

became the long shot everyone rooted for.

When the film opens, Braddock is a solid boxer and a family man,

deeply devoted to his wife Mae (Renee Zellweger), whose luck changes

drastically after the stock market crash of 1929. It is now 1932 and

the family is living hand to mouth, like so many millions of others.

Not only that, but Jim’s boxing license has been pulled after a bout

in which he broke his hand.

Just when it seems Braddock has hit bottom, his old trainer Joe

Gould (Paul Giamatti of “Sideways”) incredibly gets him another

fight.

It’s meant to be a one-night-only deal, but Braddock wins the

fight, then another and another, until he becomes the contender to

challenge the current world heavyweight champ -- fearsome,

high-living Max Baer (Craig Bierko).

Howard lets a little too much dewy-eyed sentiment creep in from

time to time, especially where Zellweger is concerned. But the fight

sequences and performances from Crowe, Giamatti and Bierko are

knockouts that will have you cheering all the way to the end.

* SUSANNE PEREZ lives in Costa Mesa and is an executive assistant

for a financial services company.