Cinderella Man

I’ve been gypped. I went to see Gladiator with boxing gloves, but instead I saw one of the best movies of the year. Ron Howard could’ve made James Braddock (the Russell Crowe character) a milkman and it would still have been a great film. Everything, the acting, directing, editing, was top notch in this movie.

The jig is up! Russell Crowe cannot only act, but with this performance, can easily be classified as one of the best of his generation. The way he transforms himself from the Hero into an Everyman is something to see. Crowe and Cinderella Man are right up there with Marlon Brando and On the Waterfront. It is that good.

Renee Zellweger- ain’t she something! I always thought of her as a lightweight, “the girl next door” for romantic comedies, but no more. She held her own with Russell’s performance. Renee emits this quiet strength and love that keeps the family together. It makes bachelors like me wish she were our wife.

Let me give you my two cents on the fight scenes. As a boxing fan, they are as phony as anything I’ve ever seen. Yet this is one of the few movies that had me sitting on the edge of my seat. This is even with the fact that I already knew who won the fight! That is one heck of a trick! But then again, it is one heck of a movie.