Cinderella Man

I had the opportunity last Thursday to watch an advance screening of the movie Cinderella Man, which I can highly recommend. First of all, it’s hard to go wrong with Ron Howard directing and Russell Crowe and Renee Zellweger in front of the camera. That being said, this amazing creative team does a commendable job of capturing the life of heavyweight boxer James J. Braddock, who was washed out and amazingly comes back to capture the title. The drama is set against the great depression and the first half of the movie, although a little slow, succeeds in painting the backdrop of that era in detail. I felt the pain and hopelessness of the period as I lived through it with the Braddock family and a nation brought to its knees. Besides being well-made and well-acted, this is an important movie about a time period that a prosperous America has mostly forgotten. It also represents a triumph of the human spirit in the face of overwhelming adversity, very much a Rocky meets Seabiscuit, where the common people find a hero to rally around in their darkest hour. The fact that it’s basically true makes it all the more appealing. As I mentioned, the first half was a little slow, but needed to be order to capture the pace of the depression. The second half was a little brutal, but needed to be as well. Also, I appreciate the story being told without any of the characters being so outrageous as to make them unbelievable, which so often happens.

As a conservative Christian I will also comment on the following: This is a great love story about a couple who remains married throughout the whole movie without having to cheat on each other. I also appreciate that they have a strong and romantic marriage, but the movie was made without including a sex scene. That’s a big win for parents who want their kids to be inspired by the story and history, but don’t want the sex. Nor do I - I actually close my eyes during sex scenes because many of them really boil down to soft porn in my opinion. Additionally, profanity is mostly only used when appropriate. Clearly there is violence as it’s a boxing movie, but it is also not overly gratuitous or any more gruesome than necessary. In conclusion, this movie is a win whether I’m wearing my generic critic hat or my fundamentalist conservative pundit hat. In other words, it has lots of good without having to fall back on the vices in order to tell the story. That gives it a top rating in my book. So if you haven’t yet, go see Cinderella man. And tell a friend.