In Cinderella Man Max Baer Sr. was portrayed in a way that is very inaccurate to his real character. He was portrayed as a cruel and vicious boxer, and not someone who felt sad at Campbell's death. In real life Baer was deeply remorseful about killing an opponent in the ring and supported the man's widow and children even putting the man's children through college. Thus Max Baer Jr,. was deeply upset with Ron Howard portraying his dad as a cold-hearted thug rather than the gentleman he was. Thus Jethro is not too happy with Opie.

In the Cinderella man, Russel Crowe who is starring as James J Braddock is a boxer in the Great Depression. Knows as the Cinderella man, he became one of the greatest sports sensations in the History of Boxing. In the early 1930's Braddock body, was wrecked down, crushed up and was not as good of a fighter as he once was. At this point in his career, he is struggling, and he is fighting with a broken hand. His wife Renée Zellweger starring as Mae Braddock hates his profession, but still tend to support him even though she is scared that he might get injured. His wife wishes, he quits the sport altogether but knows that they need the extra funds to survive. Watering down milk to get by a few extra days, and living with no heat has become the common routine for Braddock's family.The main theme of the story is that it is like a fairy tale, hence the name the Cinderella Man. Throughout the movie, you can see that Braddock handled the depression differently, compared to everyone else. He did not let it break him even though, he was going through a series of hardships and adversity with his family. From getting his boxing silence revoked, due to the fact his matches were not providing the necessary hype that promoters wanted he still had hope. He tried in any way to help his family, to make it through. Unfortunately, due to the unfortunate circumstances, for the fear of the kids getting sick, Mae send her children to her family. This is the breaking point for James and he is very devastated. He starts to get on government assistance and asks for additional help from his boxing team and his manager Paul Giamatti, known as Joe Gould.The effect of editorial cutting and transition of the pace of the film was very effective. It helped portray the life struggled of the depression and what the Braddock family was going through. The constant flashbacks, throughout the end of the film played a major role and made the audience realize who James was really fighting for. The background music played a major role as well because it provided the mood of which the scene was heading towards. When James had to bury his friend Mike Wilson, the music was very sad and miserable.The theme is like the movie the "Invincible" which has the fairy like theme, of an underdog making it at the very end and proving everyone else wrong. As the movie goes on Joe pays a visit to James. He offers him a fight to fight the 2nd contender in the World. James is miraculously able to beat him and this is the beginning of the great winning streak. Joe convinces his Boss, to give James another chance and he is able to get another shot. This goes on until James end up beating the world heavyweight champion and make world history. This to a lot of people meant that Hope was on the way especially in those times. There was priest, churches and everyone in the community rooting for James. It was like a fairy tale, which is why the Cinderrela Man is a great title for this movie.

In the film Russell Crowe plays a boxer named James Braddock who is married to Mae Braddock who is played by Renee Zellweger. James is managed by Joe Gould who is played by Paul Giamatti. James is a promising young boxer. After injuries hinder his ability to fight lowers his performance no one will give him a fight. The great depression hits and takes a toll on James and his family. He is given a chance to fight one last time makes the most of it and works his way up the ladder to become the champion of his weight class. The rise does not come without its struggles and conflict within his family. The theme of the film is that you must do whatever it takes to care for and be with your family. Throughout the film when James is fighting, when given his second chance, he has flashbacks to his family struggling. This gives the impression that he is fighting for his family and the betterment of them. He is determined that no matter what happens he will win the fight and he will do it for his family. Another scene that demonstrates the theme is when his son is caught stealing. When he makes his son return the item he stole he promises him that he will never split their family apart. Many families had to be split apart because of the tough economic times. The scene where James is working on the docks with a broken hand also demonstrates the theme. He is hiding his injury and working through a lot of pain to ensure that his family can stay together. He is determined that there is nothing that is going to keep him from doing whatever he can to keep his family together. There were also thematic elements that played into the role of determining the theme. The lighting in the home helps to show the theme. The apartment they are staying in is dark except for the faces of the family members, which shows the importance of the family. It is also symbolic that there are no lights on in the house when the kids have to leave the home. In addition to the lighting the angles in the film also show examples of the theme. When James is entering the ring the angle of the camera is above him. When he is in the ring there are angles that show him from a ringside perspective that gives the illusion he is high in the air. This shows that he is doing something that is helping his family and is being propped up for doing so. The film Castaway has similar items to the theme of this film. In Castaway Chuck has a will to survive and stay alive because of his wife. This shows that it is imperative to do whatever it takes to care for and be with your family.

Cinderella Man is directed by Ron Howard and stars Russell Crowe as James Braddock, a rags to riches boxer that tries to make a life during the Great Depression. The story follows Braddock, and his wife (Renee Zellweger) as he rises from a very bad boxer, to a very good boxer, and the conflicts that this causes in his marriage, and the ever so hard time known as the Depression.Ron Howard, the director, is known by many people as Opie Taylor. However, he is also a pretty good, and well known, director in Hollywood. He's directed such movies as The Da Vinci Code, A Beautiful Mind (also with Russell Crowe), and even Apollo 13. He's done some pretty good films, and this one lives up to the others. While on the topic of Ron Howard, I might as well mention the directing. The directing in this movie is actually pretty good. During the fight scenes, he films the action pretty well. There aren't an overabundance of cuts, and he used a lot of wide shots when Braddock was in the ring. I was impressed with the directing.The cinematography was also pretty good. Some people may not like it, because it's dark and dreary, but I liked that quite a bit. It expresses how hard the Depression was, and it symbolizes the people's' lives. Their lives were dark, and nothing seemed to work out. This is also true for the story's protagonist, which leads me into my next positive.The characters were very likable. I truly understood why James had to fight, and I also understood why his wife, Mae, didn't want him to. She needed him to be able to take care of the family, and he thought he was doing so by fighting. He saw fighting as a way to make money, and she saw it as an easy way to get killed. These characters are a literary device known as a foil; they contrast each other. However, this somewhat reflected on another couple involved with the boxing business, and for those of you who have seen the Rocky films, you know exactly what I'm talking about. James and Mae are a pretty clear image of Rocky and Adrian, which could easily bring the movie down, if not set in such a specific time period as the Depression was.Speaking of the Rocky films, James' final opponent, Max Baer, reminded me of Ivan Drago, from Rocky IV. Both men were known for killing opponents in the ring, and being very strong, yet the protagonist still insists on fighting them. The last two points could easily be summarized by the "boxing movie" cliché. This cliché is abundant through all boxing films, not just this one. It is easily recognizable in other movies, such as The Fighter, Raging Bull, or Southpaw. This, however, can be excused by the difficulty to differentiate themselves from other boxing films.So, overall, my main problem with the film is it's obvious cliché, yet I liked almost everything else about the movie. I think Cinderella Man should receive a B, or an 8 out of 10.