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# BY DAN DUNN Eating up Crowe
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/by-dan-dunn-eating-up-crowe/
- Published: 2005-06-03T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T07:13:35.000Z
- Author: Dan Dunn
- Tags: Entertainment, Santa Monica, #archive-import

Exiting the theater following a screening of Ron Howard’s Depression-era boxing biopic, “Cinderella Man,” I wondered how much differently this wholly entertaining film might have turned out had it been helmed by an inveterate prankster such as Ralph Malph or a wet sponge like Potsie. Clearly, Russell Crowe’s days on set were happier under the direction of the erstwhile Richie Cunningham, a swell guy who apparently never met a feel-good story he didn’t feel good about making. As he did so well in both “Apollo 13” and “A Beautiful Mind,” Howard celebrates the triumph of the human spirit with a technically dazzling adaptation of a remarkable true story.

Jim J. Braddock (Crowe) was on the cusp of pugilistic greatness in the late 1920s when his career was derailed by a hand injury. By 1933, Braddock and his family — wife Mae (Renee Zellweger) and three small children — are, like millions of Americans, still reeling from the stock market crash of ’29\. Stripped of his boxing license, we watch Braddock suffer, swallow his pride, grovel, then suffer some more. Eventually, he gets another shot in the ring thanks to his tenacious manager Joe Gould (a fantastic Paul Giamatti — is this guy on a roll, or what?) and makes the most of it despite near-impossible odds. The inspirational underdog material might have played like old hat had Crowe, who’s been down this road before, not simply refused to allow “Cinderella Man” to be anything less than exceptional. Scene after scene, he reminds us that he is without doubt one of our great-est living screen actors, and Howard has once again provided him with a richly textured role to showcase his considerable abilities. The reliable Zellweger provides stellar support as Braddock’s fulcrum, as does Craig Bierko as the seemingly indestructible fighter Max Baer. The brutal fight sequences, and there are a number of them, are rendered with “Raging Bull”-like intensity. “Cinderella Man” will go down as one of the best pictures of 2005, and if you don’t believe that, well … sit on it.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 3, 2005.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/060305.pdf?ref=smdp.com)