‘Cinderella Man,’ Though Good, Suffers From Summer Restlessness

This is shaping up to be Hollywood’s summer of discontent. Despite the success of Star Wars, Madagascar, Batman Begins, Mr & Mrs Smith and a few others, total overall attendance is down and there has been a lot of press regarding how box office receipts have trailed last year’s figures for over 16 straight weeks.

In fact, recently USA Today, in a cover story titled “Where Have All the Moviegoers Gone,” posed the theory that this summer may go down as the season audiences jilted movie theaters.

Perhaps no other big-studio flick is feeling the affects more than Cinderella Man, Universal Pictures’ heavily-hyped contender for future Oscar glory that’s finding it presently difficult to attract interested spectators. It’s tempting to tag its failure to answer the bell as a crowd-pleasing triumph as a direct result of the general apathy seemingly gripping many potential viewers across the country. But perhaps its fall can better be accredited to the same thing that plagued The Thin Red Line back in 1998. I’ll explain in a moment.

But first, let me be clear: Cinderella Man,” the second teaming of director Ron Howard and star Russell Crowe (their first was the award-winning A Beautiful Mind), is a fine film that boasts riveting performances, stellar cinematography and an inherently engrossing story. Based on a true tale, the movie traces the path of fighter James Braddock (Crowe), who rose through the ranks of professional boxing in the 1920s only to see his career careen downward into obscurity, paralleling the descending fortunes of many an American during the Great Depression.

He and his faithful wife, Mae (Renee Zellweger), parents of three young children, struggle and claw to keep food on the table and electricity coursing through the confined space of their ramshackle Jersey apartment. Braddock, no longer an attraction in the ring, sweats out erratic work on the docks, and he and his wife drive to keep their spirits intact. When Braddock’s former trainer/manager (the always dependable Paul Giamatti) arrives with one “last” opportunity for glory in the ring (and more importantly, a chance to put food on the table), the Irish-American battler begins an improbable, dramatic rise that inspires hope in those who barely have any left.

Ron Howard stages some exciting boxing matches and the cinematography by Salvatore Totino is absolutely outstanding… you’ll truly feel transported to the 1930s. But the heart and soul of the film is found in Crowe, whose eyes convey so much of the inner struggle as well as inner strength of Braddock, and the outstanding chemistry he crafts with co-star Zellweger, who also contributes much to the emotional weight of the story. These two actors, who can already boast of some unforgettable cinematic portrayals, can proudly include their work in this film among some of their very best.

Yet despite all that Cinderella Man has going for it, there is no question that its unfortunate timing dulls the full power of its cinematic punch. Just as The Thin Red Line, director Terrence Malick’s fascinating yet contemplative take on World War II, was felled because it arrived only a few months after the visceral experience that was Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan, so too does Cinderella Man find its way to the audience complicated by the success a scant six months ago of Million Dollar Baby (another poignant boxing film) and, to a lesser extent, the recent, stirring victory of Seabiscuit (another emotionally rousing Depression-era tale).

This is no fault of its own, and perhaps, down the road during its DVD release, it may garner the notice it has definitely already earned. But for now, all I can say is if you’re of a mind to tackle something more substantive during the hot summer days when most movie offerings are either light comedies or heavy blockbusters full of bombast, then don’t let Cinderella Man pass you by.

Cinderella Man is rated PG-13 for intense boxing violence and occasionally strong language.