source: www.hollywood-elsewhere.com
Jeffrey Wells column
January 7, 2005
I was looking yesterday at the VHS trailer for Ron Howard's Cinderella Man (Universal) and agreeing with the general consensus that it looks solid -- well-acted, well-organized -- and enjoying the vague sepia-tone shadings in the color photography, when this letter from a London reader I've heard from before, Poly Giannaba, came through.
Now, she could be a studio "plant" (it happens) but it would be awfully tricky and rather elaborate of some Universal/Imagine guy to try and send along a rave from way over there. Plus a planted review would probably be more explicit that what Poly has provided in terms of plot and scene descriptions.
I just saw Cinderella Man in a test screening a couple of weeks ago, and in my opinion the online trailer doesn't do it justice. The trailer looks a bit soft, and the film feels leaner and more confident, and is very involving.
It's hard to tell with these things but I think that all three actors (Russell Crowe, Renee Zelwegger, Paul Giamatti) will get Oscar nominations. It has gorgeous photography and almost a kind of documentary feel in places. The boxing action is exciting and brutal, but also emotionally relevant to the story.
The film literally starts with a punch near the end of the 1920s, when Jim Braddock's (Crowe) star is ascending. And so the scene is set, both in the ring and in his domestic life. Things are looking very good and then there is a very nice, simple and effective transition to a few years later, when things are totally different.
Poly doesn't spill, but any Braddock website will tell you he lost a fifteen-round decision to Tommy Loughran in 1929, and that the combination of this and the 1929 stock market crash made things tough for Braddock and his family over the next two or three years.
That first scene, when we first see the change of fortune, is a different kind of punch, all the more upsetting because there is a sense of normality about it. The whole film is like that -- neither the direction nor the acting tries to emphasize that what we're seeing is extraordinary or appalling. Things speak for themselves.
The first part of the film is mostly about Braddock's day-to-day struggle and keeping his head above water. My stomach felt cold, like lead -- it really hits you. That first part might need some trimming -- not to lose any one scene but to make it all play tighter.
When Braddock starts to win, it's still about the day-to-day struggle. At no point does he want to win in order to celebrate himself. It's still about keeping the family together and the children fed and warm. It's great seeing a film hero who isn't self involved.
Then the interest shifts a bit, and you want to know why Braddock keeps fighting when the consequences are potentially devastating. Max Baer, his final opponent, had killed two men in the ring. When Braddock articulates the reasons for wanting to fight, it's a great moment, both simple and powerful.
The final fight is long and brutal. I heard some people say that it's too long but I didn't think so. That's the whole point -- the beating isn't over quickly and you have to feel it. The result of the fight is almost irrelevant, but it's not flashy and it feels very good. Ron Howard doesn't overstay the moment and the final sequence of brief scenes, each one freezing to create a photograph, is aesthetically fantastic and genuinely sweet.
The version we saw was 2 hours and 20 minutes, with no credits. It seemed to me like 90 minutes.
The boxing scenes are thrilling -- directed, played and edited to perfection. I can't remember boxing in any other film being both so physical and so integral to the emotional life of what it's about.
The film has a great sense of time and place, which has, in part, something to do with the color. Thinking back, I remember it as black and white.
Crowe plays Braddock like the everyday man, very quiet but direct. Very few actors can inhabit characters with such inner conviction. I don't always like Zelwegger, but she's very earthy here, doesn't try too hard and looks great as a brunette.
It's great to see Giamatti with a really good role in a mainstream film. The part is big, he doesn't play a loser and his relationship with Braddock is at least as vital as Zelwegger's. He has great chemistry with Crowe. His explosiveness works great with Crowe's stillness -- kind of a yin-yang thing.
The test screening was at Kingston upon Thames, a little town outside London, on 12.16. The company that organized it was First Movies (www.firstmovies.com). I was surprised that they had a test screening in the U.K. but I wasn't going to complain.
The cinema was full, about 300 people. Very diverse crowd. The fact that several rows were filled with teenagers didn't make me happy before the film started, as I didn't think they would sit still for the whole film. I was wrong -- they seemed as involved as everyone else.
I wasn't part of the discussion group but all the people around me seemed to enjoy the film immensely. All the boxes I saw checked were 'very good' and 'excellent.' I can't wait to see it again.
I like the name Poly, which alludes in a left-field way to "poly-sci."
editor's note: Poly is a long time fan and frequent contributor to Murph's and Crowe Crossing and definitely not a studio plant.
The family enjoys a performance of Wind in the Willows in the Sydney Botanic Gardens ~ 2007
