- Cinderella Man
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For the song by Rush, see Cinderella Man (song).
Cinderella Man 
Theatrical release posterDirected by Ron Howard Produced by Brian Grazer
Ron Howard
Penny MarshallWritten by Cliff Hollingsworth
Akiva GoldsmanStarring Russell Crowe
Renée Zellweger
Paul Giamatti
Bruce McGill
Craig BierkoMusic by Thomas Newman Cinematography Salvatore Totino Editing by Daniel P. Hanley
Mike HillStudio Imagine Entertainment
Parkway ProductionsDistributed by USA/Canada
Universal Pictures
International
Miramax FilmsRelease date(s) June 3, 2005 Running time 144 minutes Country United States Language English Budget $88 million Box office $108,539,911[1] Cinderella Man is a 2005 American drama film by Ron Howard, titled after the nickname of heavyweight boxing champion James J. Braddock and inspired by his life story. The film was produced by Howard, Penny Marshall, and Brian Grazer.
Contents
Plot
James J. Braddock is a hard-nosed, Irish-American boxer from New Jersey, formerly a light heavyweight contender, who is forced to give up boxing after breaking his hand in the ring. This is both a relief and an upset to his wife, Mae: she cannot bring herself to watch the violence of his chosen profession, yet knows they will have no good income without him boxing.
As the United States enters the Great Depression, Braddock does manual labor as a longshoreman to support his family, even after badly breaking his hand. Unfortunately, he cannot get work every day. Thanks to a last-minute cancellation by another boxer, Braddock's longtime manager and friend, Joe Gould, offers him a chance to fill in for just this one night and make a little money. The fight is against the number-two contender in the world, Corn Griffin, and Braddock is seen as little more than a convenient punching bag.
Braddock, however, stuns the boxing experts and fans with a third-round knockout of his formidable opponent. He believes that because his hand is now healed, he is fit to fight. Against his wife's wishes, Braddock takes up Gould's offer to return to the ring. Mae resents this attempt by Gould to profit from her husband's dangerous livelihood, until she discovers that Gould and his wife also have been devastated by hard times.
With a shot at the heavyweight championship held by Max Baer a possibility, Braddock continues to win. Out of a sense of pride, he uses a portion of his prize money to pay back money to the government given to him while unemployed. When his rags to riches story gets out, the sportswriter Damon Runyon dubs him "The Cinderella Man," and before long Braddock comes to represent the hopes and aspirations of the American public struggling with the Depression.
A title fight against Baer comes his way. Braddock is a 10-to-1 underdog. Mae is terrified because Baer, the champ, is a vicious man who reportedly has killed at least two men in the ring. He is so destructive that the fight's promoter, James Johnston, forces both Braddock and Gould to watch a film of Baer in action, just so he can maintain later that he warned them what Braddock was up against.
Braddock demonstrates no fear. The arrogant Baer attempts to intimidate him, even taunting Mae in public that her man might not survive. When he says this, she becomes so angry that she throws a drink at him. She cannot bring herself to attend the fight at the Madison Square Garden Bowl or even to listen to it on the radio.
On June 13, 1935, in one of the biggest achievements in boxing history, Braddock defeats the seemingly invincible Baer to become the heavyweight champion of the world.
A graphic at the end of the film reveals that Braddock worked on the building of the Verrazano Bridge, and that he later owned and operated heavy machinery on the docks where he worked during the Depression. Also, he and Mae used the winnings to buy a house, in which they spent the rest of their lives.
Cast
- Russell Crowe as James J. Braddock
- Renée Zellweger as Mae Braddock
- Paul Giamatti as Joe Gould
- Bruce McGill as James Johnston
- Craig Bierko as Max Baer
- Paddy Considine as Mike Wilson
- David Huband as Ford Bond
- Connor Price as Jay Braddock
- Ariel Waller as Rosemarie "Rosy" Braddock
- Patrick Louis as Howard Braddock
- Rosemarie DeWitt as Sara Wilson
- Linda Kash as Mrs. Gould
- Nicholas Campbell as Sporty Lewis
- Gene Pyrz as Jake
- Chuck Shamata as Father Roddick
- Ron Canada as Joe Jeanette
- Alicia Johnston as Alice
- Troy Amos-Ross as John Henry Lewis
- Mark Simmons as Art Lasky
- Art Binkowski as Corn Griffin
- David Litzinger as Abe Feldman
- Matthew G. Taylor as Primo Carnera
- Rance Howard as Announcer Al Fazin
Production
During filming in Toronto, several areas were redressed to resemble 1930s New York. The Richmond Street side of The Bay's Queen Street store was redressed as Madison Square Garden, complete with fake store fronts and period stop lights. A stretch of Queen Street East between Broadview and Carlaw was also made up to appear to be from the 1930s and dozens of period cars were parked along the road. Maple Leaf Gardens was also used for all the fight scenes. Many scenes were filmed in the Distillery District. Filming also took place in Hamilton, Ontario at the harbour for the dock workers' scene.[2] The main apartment was shot just North of St Clair avenue on Lauder Avenue on the east side. An Awning was put up for a dress shop, later turned into a real coffee shop.
The Toronto Transit Commission's historic Peter Witt streetcar and two more cars from the nearby Halton County Radial Railway were used for the filming, travelling on Toronto's existing streetcar tracks.
Release
In a campaign to boost ticket sales after the film's disappointing opening, AMC Theatres advertised on June 24, 2005 that in 30 markets (about 150 theaters nationwide), it would offer a refund to any ticket-buyer dissatisfied with the film.[3] The advertisement, published in The New York Times and other papers and on internet film sites, read, "AMC believes Cinderella Man is one of the finest motion pictures of the year! We believe so strongly that you'll enjoy Cinderella Man we're offering a Money Back Guarantee." The promotion moderately increased box office revenue for a short period, while at least 50 patrons demanded refunds. Following suit, Cinemark Theatres also offered a money-back guarantee in 25 markets that did not compete with AMC Theaters. AMC had last employed such a strategy (in limited markets) for the 1988 release of Mystic Pizza,[4] while 20th Century Fox had unsuccessfully tried a similar ploy for its 1994 remake of Miracle on 34th Street.
Reaction
Critical reception and box office
Although the film received very good reviews from most critics and audiences, with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 80%,[5] it fared relatively poorly at the box office during its first several weeks. During its North American theatrical run, the film (which cost $88 million) had earned only $61,649,911.[1]
Depiction of Max Baer
Max Baer is portrayed as a brutal person who behaves inappropriately outside the ring and viciously inside it (to the point of killing two opponents in the ring). Baer's relatives and boxing historians have criticized the film's depiction of him, arguing that he killed one man in the ring, Frankie Campbell, not two (in the film, it is stated that he also caused the – slightly delayed – death of Ernie Schaaf, something commonly claimed by the press at the time, but never proven), and was considered by many to be a gentleman. This is supported by historical evidence which shows that Baer's demeanor, both within and outside the ring, was much less brutal than the film portrayed, and he often cracked jokes.
However, the portrayal of Max Baer's style of boxing in the film is very close to what happened in the actual boxing contest.[6]
The author of the book on which the film was based has asserted that Baer was kind, charismatic, loved and respected, and pointed out the emotional pain that Baer endured the rest of his life following Campbell's death, and the fact that he gave purses from his bouts to Campbell's family to help give Campbell's children an education.[7]
The depiction of Max Baer in the film is no different from his depiction in the press at the time, and this image was often used by promoters to attract interest in his fights. Also, the Max Baer on screen never actually boasts about killing Campbell or Schaaf, although he does warn Braddock that he may die if he fights him, and offers to "take care" of his wife once he is gone, blowing a kiss to her as he does so. The real Max Baer (who was also an actor) starred as a much more negatively depicted, hostile boxer in the film The Harder They Fall.
Max Baer was actually a Jewish activist – he wore a large Star of David on his boxing shorts in fights. That star makes it easy to distinguish Baer from Braddock in the black and white films of the original boxing contest.
Awards and nominations
Academy Award
- Best Editing (Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill) (Nominated)
- Best Makeup (David LeRoy Anderson, Lance Anderson) (Nominated)
- Best Supporting Actor (Paul Giamatti) (Nominated)
BAFTA Award
- Best Original Screenplay (Cliff Hollingsworth, Akiva Goldsman)
- Best Supporting Actor (Paul Giamatti) (Nominated)
Golden Globe Award
- Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama (Russell Crowe) (Nominated)
- Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture (Paul Giamatti) (Nominated)
Screen Actors Guild Award
- Outstanding Supporting Actor – Motion Picture (Paul Giamatti) (Won)
- Outstanding Actor – Motion Picture (Russell Crowe) (Nominated)
References
- ^ a b "Cinderella Man (2005)". Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=cinderellaman.htm. Retrieved June 5, 2010.
- ^ "Internet Movie Database – List of Films shot in Hamilton, Ontario". http://www.imdb.com/List?endings=on&&locations=Hamilton,+Ontario,+Canada. Retrieved January 29, 2008.
- ^ Stack, Tim (July 1, 2005). "Cinde-Refund: AMC is offering refunds to unsatisfied moviegoers – The exhibitor is giving customers their money back if they didn't like Cinderella Man". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/report/0,6115,1078806_1%7C37449%7C%7C0_0_,00.html. Retrieved December 12, 2006.
- ^ Johannes, Amy (July 5, 2006). "AMC Offers Refund for Cinderella Man". PROMO Xtra. http://promomagazine.com/news/amc_refund_070505/. Retrieved December 12, 2006.
- ^ "Cinderella Man (2005)". Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/cinderella_man/. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
- ^ http://www.lovemusiclovedance.com/cinderella-man.htm/ Film of real contest between Baer and Braddock
- ^ Turley, Jonathan (September 17, 2006). "Give the Dead Their Due". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/15/AR2006091500999_pf.html. Retrieved April 7, 2007.
External links
- Cinderella Man at the Internet Movie Database
- Cinderella Man at Rotten Tomatoes
- Cinderella Man at Metacritic
- Cinderella Man at Box Office Mojo
Films directed by Ron Howard 1970s Grand Theft Auto (1977)1980s Night Shift (1982) • Splash (1984) • Cocoon (1985) • Gung Ho (1986) • Willow (1988) • Parenthood (1989)1990s 2000s How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) • A Beautiful Mind (2001) • The Missing (2003) • Cinderella Man (2005) • The Da Vinci Code (2006) • Frost/Nixon (2008) • Angels & Demons (2009)2010s The Dilemma (2011) • The Dark Tower (2013)Categories:- English-language films
- 2005 films
- American films
- American biographical films
- Boxing films
- American drama films
- Films directed by Ron Howard
- Films set in New York City
- Films set in the 1920s
- Films set in the 1930s
- Films shot in Hamilton, Ontario
- Films shot in Toronto
- Irish-American culture
- Miramax Films films
- Sports films based on actual events
- Universal Pictures films
- Films set in New Jersey
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