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Movies / On DVD / Cinderella Man
Cinderella Man

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Cinderella Man (2005)

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Reviews Counted:200

Fresh:160

Rotten:40

Average Rating:7.4/10

Consensus: With grittiness and an evocative sense of time and place, Cinderella Man is a powerful underdog story. And Ron Howard and Russell Crowe prove to be a solid combination.

Runtime: 2 hrs 25 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Academy Award®-winning producer Brian Grazer, director Ron Howard and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman (all Oscar® winners for 2001's A Beautiful Mind) are reunited with Oscar® winner Russell Crowe for... Academy Award®-winning producer Brian Grazer, director Ron Howard and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman (all Oscar® winners for 2001's A Beautiful Mind) are reunited with Oscar® winner Russell Crowe for the Universal Pictures-Miramax Films-Imagine Entertainment production, Cinderella Man. Starring opposite Crowe is two-time Oscar® nominee Renée Zellweger. Crowe stars in the story inspired by the life of legendary athlete Jim Braddock, a once-promising light heavyweight boxer forced into retirement after a string of losses in the ring. As the nation enters the darkest years of the Great Depression, Braddock accepts a string of dead-end jobs to support his wife, Mae (Renée Zellweger), and their children, while never totally abandoning his dream of boxing again. Thanks to a last minute cancellation, Braddock finds himself back in the ring against the second-ranked world contender--and to everyone's amazement, Braddock wins in the third round. Despite being pounds lighter than his opponents and repeated injuries to his hands, Braddock continues to fight against challengers and win. Carrying on his shoulders the hopes and dreams of the disenfranchised masses, Braddock, dubbed the "Cinderella Man," faces his toughest challenger in Max Baer (Craig Bierko), the heavyweight champion of the world, renowned for having killed two men in the ring. Cinderella Man stars Russell Crowe, Renée Zellweger and Craig Bierko; is produced by Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Penny Marshall; is written by Cliff Hollingsworth, C. Gaby Mitchell, Akiva Goldsman; and is directed by Ron Howard. The film is a Universal Pictures/Miramax Films co-production of an Imagine Entertainment presentation, with Universal Pictures distributing domestically and Buena Vista International handling the international distribution of the film for Miramax. [More]

Starring: Russell Crowe, Renee Zellweger, Paul Giamatti, Craig Bierko

Starring: Russell Crowe, Renee Zellweger, Paul Giamatti, Craig Bierko, Bruce McGill, Paddy Considine

Director: Ron Howard

Director: Ron Howard
Screenwriter: Ron Howard, Akiva Goldsman, Cliff Hollingsworth
Producer: Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Penny Marshall, Todd Hallowell
Composer: Thomas Newman
Studio: Universal Pictures

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Reviews for Cinderella Man

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1 - 20 (sorted by comments; UK critics are listed first)
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The Best Actor Oscar race starts now.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
01/07/06
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Handsome, manipulative, simplistic. It packs an uplift that bludgeons you into submission.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
07/31/08
Leigh Singer
Leigh Singer
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The fight scenes have a stinging authenticity and, although at 144 minutes it outstays its welcome, this is Howard’s best film since Apollo 13

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Mark Salisbury
Mark Salisbury
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's Seabiscuit with fists. Enjoyable, well-made, heartwarming Best Picture fodder that overcomes its achingly predictable story thanks to Oscar-worthy performances from Crowe and Giamatti.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
09/10/05
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

Crowe is at his best in the ring and while it's hardly surprising that he's a convincing bruiser, he also manages to make a rather one-note character compelling.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
08/16/05
Nev Pierce
Nev Pierce
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The events are strong enough to keep us gripped, even though the writing and direction are flat and bland.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
06/09/05
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

And as far as Cinderella's pumpkins go, though the movie ends with Braddock's boxing triumph in Hollywood's notorious freeze-frame approach to history, both Braddock and Baer went on to be decked by Joe Louis.

Full Review Source: Long Island Press | comment 2 Comments
04/19/07
Prairie Miller
Prairie Miller
Long Island Press

Like its hero, it stubbornly gets the job done.

Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger | comment 2 Comments
06/03/05
Stephen Whitty
Stephen Whitty
Newark Star-Ledger

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

Full Review Source: SA Movie & DVD Magazine | comment 1 Comment
07/06/06
James O'Ehley
James O'Ehley
SA Movie & DVD Magazine

Director Ron Howard doesn't pull any surprise moves here, yet the movie gets more and more gripping with each punch.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
06/03/05
E! Online
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
06/04/05
Boston Phoenix
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
07/05/05
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The feel good bomb of the year.

Full Review Source: Juicy Cerebellum | comment Comment
01/14/06
Alex Sandell
Alex Sandell
Juicy Cerebellum

The fight scenes hurt, not because they're edited like quicksilver or nimbly staged -- they are -- but because we are made to care so deeply for the title character.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
06/03/05
Amy Biancolli
Amy Biancolli
Houston Chronicle

Howard has taken one of the greatest comeback stories ever and turned it into a cloying bit of fluff

Full Review Source: Killer Movie Reviews | comment Comment
05/25/05
Andrea Chase
Andrea Chase
Killer Movie Reviews

Just an O.K. vintage fight movie.

Full Review Source: New York Observer | comment Comment
06/09/05
Andrew Sarris
Andrew Sarris
New York Observer

So determined to make the audience stand up and cheer that it forgets how to generate anything lasting, other than sheer old-timey nostalgia.

Full Review Source: The Stranger (Seattle, WA) | comment Comment
06/02/05
Andrew Wright
Andrew Wright
The Stranger (Seattle, WA)

... a by-the-book, retro Hollywood production – which brings with it both virtues and problems.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles CityBeat | comment Comment
06/03/05
Andy Klein
Andy Klein
Los Angeles CityBeat

Crowe delivers powerful punch. "Cinderella Man" first Oscar-contender of the year.

Full Review Source: Sympatico.ca | comment Comment
06/02/05
Angela Baldassarre
Angela Baldassarre
Sympatico.ca

A godsend to anybody who yearns for cinema to be a bringer of good tidings.

Full Review Source: New Yorker | comment Comment
05/31/05
Anthony Lane
Anthony Lane
New Yorker
 
 
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