I had been looking forward to Cinderella Man for about a month now, since I saw the first trailer online. Last night, after moderating a panel on gays in sports and watching the movie Straightacting at NewFest, Dan and I went to see it.
It was as good as I had hoped. While it has a running time of 2 hours, 24 minutes, the movie was so riveting on so many levels that it didn't feel long at all - in fact, I wish it had been longer.
For those who don't know, the movie is the true story of James Braddock, the up-and-coming boxer who loses everything in 1929. A two-bit boxer who can't win a match to save his family, he gets an unlikely match against one of the world's best boxers in 1934 and scores a shocking upset. As he rises toward a match-up for the World Heavyweight title, he attracts the attention and favor of American workers who, like him, had been down on their luck for years.
The movie scores on so many different levels. The boxing action is AMAZING - and I don't even like boxing. I found myself fidgeting in my seat, trying to urge Braddock on as he slugged it out with his opponents. I shed tears several times in the movie - and I watched and heard (sniffles) as others did the same. I also laughed, and I didn't even get some of the jokes (particularly the stuff about his kids and wife, which left many straight people in the audience chuckling).
I love these kinds of movies - people going beyond what others expect of them. I can't get enough of them.
For my money, this movie is better than Seabiscuit, with which it's being compared. Seabiscuit just left me unsatisfying and unmoved; this movie satisfied and moved me.
FINAL ANALYSIS: It's hard for me to think of something else I would have wanted in this movie. Definitely in the top 10 percent of movies I've ever seen. 10 out of 10
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