Cinderella Man

[DanielJones]

Watched this one last night. I completely enjoyed this one. Great story, fantastic visuals and a top drawer director & cast. they even managed to cast Jim Braddocks Granddaughter in this film. I loved how they used the Maple Leaf Gardens as the Madison Square Garden backdrop. Ron Howard as usual managed to get his brother & father in his film too. Makes for a close nit family venture. Now, what I would like to know, was Max Baer that dirty of a fighter as the film made him out to be? Everything had a good flow and there weren't the usual gaps that leave you asking questins throughout the film. I think that ron Howard did an excelent job of this film. His production group did 'A Beautiful Mind', and will be doing the upcoming 'DaVinci Code'. So far I haven't been dissapointed in what they have put out.
I like the costuming in this film. Especially the clothing they gave Jim Braddock & his trainer/manager Joel Gould. There were those that had and those that had nothing back then, and they showed it quite well in this flick.
Good job all the way around.

Cheers!

Dan

 

[DanielJones]

No Golden Era boxing fans eh? Oh well, thought I'd try.

Cheers!

Dan

 

[MDFrench]

Saw this in the theatre when it came out. Gave it a perfect score on my movie reviews website - www.frenchbrosreviews.com.

Mike

 

[MrBern]

Loved it.

Embarrassed to say I had never heard of Braddock.

Hey that photo of Braddock sorta looks liek MelGibson.

-b

 

[MrBern]

Hooverville

Both Cinderella Man & KINGKONG depict Hooverville in Central Park.

Do any other movies?

 

[MudInYerEye]

Now, what I would like to know, was Max Baer that dirty of a fighter as the film made him out to be?
Dan

Baer was certainly no Gene Tunney in terms of scientific boxing, but then again he was no Fritzi Zivic either. He actually fought a lot like Jack Dempsey minus the crouch. As portrayed in the movie, he was a noted clown both in and out of the ring but not quite the vulgar lout Howard would have us think. Of course the film needed a foil to bring out CINDERELLA MAN's version of Braddock's supposed saintliness.
Baer's greatest achievement was not taking the title from Primo Canera but his ten round systematic dismantling of Max Scmeling (1933) in a bout which Aldolph Hitler postioned as a showcase for hardworking German superiority over American decadence. That Baer was a not only an American but a Jew provided a great deal of egg for Hitler's face.
Baer is also reprtedly responsible for some of the greatest "last words" ever uttered in recorded American history. In the throes of a fatal heart attack he managed to phone his hotel's front desk and request a doctor. The operator asked him if he wanted the house doctor. Baer responded, "No, stupid. The people doctor." Minutes later, he gave up the ghost.
The fellow playing Baer certainly looked a lot like him and really captured the patter of Baer's speech. Good flick overall!

 

[DanielJones]

MYE: Thank you, that was very interesting. So, did he have a mean back hand as well, or was that just a bunch of movie guff?

Cheers!

Dan

 

[MK]

never got to see it in the theater....

.....but I bought it yesterday on DVD...along with The Aviator and the original King Kong in that hard to find metel box.

I will be spending a lot of time in front of the tube this Christmas.

 

[MK]

great flick

I am really impressed with this movie. Ron Howard is such a good filmmaker and story teller. His showing of the depression is so much more vivid than Peter Jackson's version in King Kong. Of course it is a different kind of story, but never the less I still think Howard's vision is superior. Now I have to check out the documentry.

 

[Andykev]

It looks good

They had a History Channel or some such program on Bradock. What a wonderful story. I now will want to go out and buy the movie. Good story.

 

[MK]

Just watched the documentry.

You can see much more of the wardrobe on the background. Great stuff.

 

[Wild Root]

Never had the chance to see this movie till now. My Grandparents have it on DVD and we watched it all as a family. I loved it! The story is a good story and it was told very, very well! The clothes were perfect, the dialog was very depression era. Didn?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t care for the heavy use of the Lord?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s name in vain though. However, it was a very accurate perspective on the great depression. They were some very desperate times and I really gained a new perspective on how hard those times were for most of the people in the US and the world. And watching it next to my Grandfather and Grandmother I got some stories out of them about it seeing they lived through the depression!

The cars, set design, the clothes on all the extras, all of it was superb! I?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢d say for any one wanting to get the best idea of how people dressed during the late 20?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s to the mid 1930?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s I?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢d highly recommend this movie!

I was at the edge of my seat most of the movie! I couldn?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t be more happy with how well it was done! This film ranks * * * * * on my list.

=WR=

 

[Lincsong]

It gave Max Baer a black eye

I did not like the portrayal of Max Baer. First he never tried to seduce Braddocks wife. Second, his father was a non-practicing Jew, his mother was a Roman Catholic as was thier children. Baer is entombed in the Roman Catholic St. Mary's Mausoleum in Sacramento and Max Baer Jr. went to the Jesuit Santa Clara University. Was he a clown? Yes. The only reason he wore that Star of David was because his manager thought it would be a good marketing tool with the situation in Germany as it was unfolding. In 1930, Baer fought Frankie Campbell (Camili) in San Francisco, knocking him unconscious. Frankie lay motionless for one hour. An autopsy determined that the blows Baer gave him knocked Campbell's brain loose from the connective tissues of his cranium. This haunted Baer his entire life. Baer paid the college expenses of Campbell's children. Ron Howard made Baer look bad so that his movie would look good.:rage: I am a fan of Max Baer. According to Max Baer Jr. the reason his father lost to Braddock is because Baer had engaged incomunicado with a woman in the locker room before the fight. I don't recall that in the Ron Howard version.

 

[Wild Root]

Yes, Hollywood has a way with twisting the truth a little. It's sad but, as long as we do know what really happened that's what matters.

For what it's worth, it was way, WAY better then De Lovely.

Now, I have to go and watch King Kong!

=WR=

 

[MudInYerEye]

The only reason he wore that Star of David was because his manager thought it would be a good marketing tool with the situation in Germany as it was unfolding:

This isn't quite quite correct, although it had long been the opinion of Baer's critics and detractors. Baer identified himself as Jewish because his father was Jewish, despite the fact that his family was not religous towards any faith. He grew up being picked upon by other kids because of his Jewish background. Thus when he fought Schmeling, touted by Hitler himself as an Aryan superman, wearing the star of David was an act of pride and defiance, and made his father enormously happy. By 1933 Baer had a huge following and the star of David worn on his trunks for a fight broadcast on the radio would have little impact of his popularity (the general public was already well aware of his background in an extremely ethinically-conscious age). Eventually Baer married an Irish Catholic woman and his children were raised thusly.

 

[scotrace]

A very fine film

Finally caught Cinderella Man on DVD last night - an excellent picture. I like boxing anyway.
Costumes, makeup, sets, script, all very well done. The editing was astonishingly good, I think.
I'd say both Giamatti and Crowe gave Oscar-caliber performaces.

 

[Harry Lime]

You may enjoy this as well...

Finally caught Cinderella Man on DVD last night - an excellent picture. I like boxing anyway.
Costumes, makeup, sets, script, all very well done. The editing was astonishingly good, I think.
I'd say both Giamatti and Crowe gave Oscar-caliber performaces.

This was a good boxing movie. You've probably seen "The Harder They Fall" and "Champion," they're sort of obvious. A great boxing film/story that is less well known is Ken Burns "Unforgivable Blackness; The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson." Ken is an excellent documentarian famous for his films on jazz, baseball and the Civil War (many on the forum here probably know of him, if not I think his films would appeal to many of you.)

The Jack Johnson story was one I wasn't overly familiar with and I found very compelling. You may enjoy it as well.

Harry Lime

 

[Lauren]

It was fabulous and Renee's costumes were fabulous. I really loved it. My roomate Becky and I watched it together and were musing that here we were, two girls, watching a boxing movie. We were getting all tense when the fight scenes happened, but we never fast forwarded or skipped a bit! Pretty good for a couple of girls!

 

[spiridon]

This was one that I had wanted to see at the theatre but didn't get a chance to, so I was anxiously awaiting it's DVD release. It took me over a week to secure a copy, but was very pleased when I finally did. I enjoyed the movie very much, one of the best I've seen in awhile.