As entertaining and uplifting a film as we'll get all year.

At moments it almost had me, but for the most part I just felt cold and watched with all the interest of a disgruntled spectator.

A fine alternative to the louder and more brainless summer movies competing with it -- an excellent drama that relies on heart and action instead of schmaltz and melodrama.

Howard may have replicated the family scenes as accurately as if he'd found film from a camera hidden in the walls of the original Braddock apartment, and yet the movie can't shake the sense that the scenes away from the boxing ring are somehow false

The film wallows in the poverty and degradation of Crowe and his family, which is a real downer for a supposed feel-good movie . . .

Stirring and inspirational in the best and worst senses of these terms, this fact-based melodram is stamped by the populist and middlebrow sensibility of both director Ron Howard and writer Akiva Goldsman.

I only wish Howard could have shaped this and the other performances a little, toning them down or leaving a bit of a rough edge.

I have never rooted for a sporting event in my life like I rooted for Braddock. I was on the edge of my couch, balled fists on my knees, praying he would prevail...superbly edited, beautifully shot, sensitively acted, and with fantastic grit and texture

The feel good bomb of the year.

It is an amazing story brought to life by gifted people and it will make you feel good without making you feel guilty for doing so.