I don't know many people that get a second chance...."

Directed by Ron Howard, 'CM' is biographical account based on the story of James Braddock; set during the period of the vreat depression, Braddock (Russell Crowe) pursues a boxing career despite opposition from his wife (Renee Zellweger) and the challenges faced during his daily life.

This movie starts with Braddock losing a boxing match and being dropped as a professional fighter. This introduction of our man characters assists the story telling in that the director gives the audience enough time to absorb the amount of information and changes that happen over the course of time without it feeling overbearing or being dragged out. For people that aren't big fans of boxing, this is helpful and encourages engagement that might otherwise not be naturally present.

On that note, the director also dpes an excellent job of showing the audience the challenges Braddock faces outside of his boxing career. He is struggling financially as work is few and far between. His children are at risk of being sent away (to be taken care of elsewhere) due to being unable to provide for his family. My point being - that the film turns in to less of a boxing movie, and is really a story about hope and overcoming advertisy at times where it is not easily found.

In addition to my previous point, the emotional range of the characters grounds this film and makes the events that occur within them seem realistic. The tone of the movie changes as much as the characters do, and the audience isn't objected to behaviors or scenes that feel exxagerated or un-relatable. My only critism is that sometimes the changes that occur over time with the characters isn't explained as well as they could have been (specifically, the attitude of Braddock's wife) but it doesn't make this movie any less of a success.

In my own research it appears that the film is historically accurate, although some (minimal) changes were made to Braddock's story specifically. I can't determine what the reasoning for this is, but it is speculated that this was done to keep Braddock in a favorable light at all times. I think that most people agree that this wasn't necessary, but it doesn't make the movie stray too far from the historical events that are portrayed throughout.

A heart warming story that anyone can enjoy. I would recommend!

Cinderella Man is a biography of fighter James Braddock played by Russell Crowe. He went from being a successful boxer to poverty during the Depression before his fortunes turned around and he competed for the heavyweight championship.

The movie does a good job setting up Braddock as a sympathetic character. That’s pretty easy because the story takes place during the Great Depression. His family can’t pay the bills, they get the electricity and heat turned off, the wife played by Renee Zellweger sends the kids away, they are completely down on their luck like most of the country was in the 1930s. Out of the blue boxing offers Braddock a second chance. This also makes him the underdog in all his fights.

Of course none of that matters if you don’t have good boxing scenes. The movie uses a variety of different angles to keep the fights interesting from overhead views to close ups of the fighters’ faces to shots from in between the ropes and more.

The combination of Braddock’s struggles along with the fights makes this an entertaining watch.
C

While critics trip over themselves to praise "Raging Bull" as the best boxing movie of all-time I definitely think this film is better movie & one of the top five movies ever made centered around a once vibrant sport that has had a great many great movies made from it. Crowe is at the top of his form in this true to life tale that takes very few liberties with the life of Jim Braddock. All of the performances are top notch too. Ron Howard does a great job directing & the fight scenes are as exciting as any any ever put on the big screen.
The extras are among the best of any Blu-ray disc, but what really knocks these features out of the park (mixing sports metaphors here) is the actual fight footage of Braddock & Baer included. It's not footage! It's the ENTIRE actual fight. This is a blast to watch after watching this excellent film.

One of the best movies I have ever seen,underdog story ,like the Rocky series,only this one is based on the life of Jim Braddock,a real life boxer during the Great depression era.Russel Crowe was made for the part,and even resembles Jim Braddock.The fight scenes were accurate,as I was able to find the original footage on youtube.The man playing Max baer,also a dead ringer.Excellent movie.Worth the money.I did a little research,and discovered that the woman who plays Mike Wilsons wife,is actually Jim Braddock's granddaughter.I also discovered that Joe Gould died rather young of leukemia,at age 50.I have watched this movie over and over,and I never get bored of it,it feels like I'm back in time,like I'm actualy at the historic fight between Braddock and Baer.Jim Braddock is an inspiration to all men,and I would have loved to have met him,but he passed in 1974,peacefully in his sleep.My hat is off to James "Jay" Braddock,and everyone who worked on this magnificent movie.

This is a boxing movie, a genre I don't particularly like. Watching it was like watching Hitchcock's /The Ring/, but with sound (/The Ring/ is a silent movie), color, and some relationship to history.
But it's much the same: for whatever reason, a boxer returns to competition and works his way up to the Title Match. Been there, seen that. One of the things that made the original /Rocky/ so good was that it was /not/ about a former boxer returning but about an immediate jump to the Title Match. It was also a much better movie, possibly because it was /not/ based on history.
Still, if you /like/ boxing movies, this should be right up your alley.
And it does portray the Great Depression quite well.

I greatly enjoyed this movie. Russell Crowe and Renee Zellweger worked wonderfully together and the story was well told. It gave an excellent glimpse into the lives of those living through the depression and some of the hardships that they faced during that time, while also portraying the story of a father struggle to give his family what they need. My only issue is with the Amazon itself. My order was "multi-format" yet only contained the blu-ray. I fail to see how they managed to make this error and it would not be the first time either. Only a few months ago a copy of The Pacific I purchased, also marked as "multi-format", was in actuality just the blu-ray.

I love that he never gave up. He knew if he gave up he would be giving up on his family. I did not like that his wife wanted him to stop fighting when it was a gift from God. I do respect that she did not care about the money, but she loved her husband enough to stay poor just to save his life. I could not believe he fought again after that!! The man was CRAZIE!! He never recovered from the broken rib cage. I love the way the movie ended. It had me on pins and needles!

There are good movies, so-so movies, and bad movies. Out of the good movies, only some are actually good enough that you would reasonably watch them again, and very few will have you just as entranced watching as they did the first time.
I picked up Cinderella Man based on recommended on boxing movies after I really enjoyed the newer film Southpaw. I'm very happy that I did- this is a wonderful film! Boxing movies tend to be either very good or very bad, and I was hopeful that this would be the former since it is based off a true story. The immediate beginning may seem slow- but it rapidly draws you in after the pre-depression outdoor celebratory scenes. This movie has hope, betrayal, fear, sadness, joy, amazement, humility, and so many other emotions of life in it... If you enjoy boxing, and movies that will really hit you with some feels- this is a great pick.