Cinderella Man

We rented the DVD Cinderella Man, directed by Ron Howard and staring Russell Crowe and Renee Zellweger yesterday. It is a good movie. However, much to my surprise, a prince does not have a silver slipper to try on Russell's big sweaty foot.

It is a boxing movie. It is the story of Heavy Weight Boxer Jim Braddock during the Depression. The movie, I think, probably conveyed the general feel of the Depression and boxing matches, poor people at the time, Hooverville, and just very well done.

Generally, I don't like boxing. I think the poor boxers have put themselves into the place of gladiators. People pay good money to see them beaten to a pulp or maybe even killed on the spot (with any luck of the spectators).

I prefer baseball, rarely anyone gets hurt - you certainly don't go to or watch a baseball game on TV with the hopes of seeing some blood.

Cinderella Man goes beyond boxing, or maybe boxing is in the center of everything and is a cause and effect of everyting else in the movie, or visa versa. Jim Braddock is just trying to feed his starving family the best way he knows how - to beat the shit out of an opponent. The movie gets into his family life, his children, his friends, church, and the politics and money making decisions of who gets to fight whom.

Good movie!