History Film / CinderellaMan

* CasualtyInTheRing: Baer killed two opponents in the ring (in RealLife, only one and, contrary to the movie depiction, he felt ''really'' bad about it).

[[quoteright:280:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cinderella_man.jpg]]

''Cinderella Man'' is an American film released in 2005, directed by Creator/RonHoward, starring Creator/RussellCrowe, Creator/ReneeZellweger, Creator/PaulGiamatti and Craig Bierko. It loosely follows the story of RealLife boxing champion James J. Braddock, aka "Cinderella Man" (played by Russell Crowe). It was an uplifting underdog story, set in a time when the country very much needed one.

The movie begins during what should have been the upswing of Braddock's career in the [[TheRoaringTwenties late 1920's.]] Braddock has it all -- a successful boxing career, a pretty wife, Mae (played by Renee Zellweger), and 3 beautiful children. Cut to several years later, we find out that Braddock was forced to abandon his boxing career after suffering a broken hand. His wife saw this as a both a blessing and a curse, as she feared for his safety in the ring, but knew boxing was the best way for Jim to support their family.

As the Great Depression hits, Braddock is forced to do manual labor, working on the docks to (barely) support his family, who live in extremely poor conditions. At one point, he takes public assistance (a great source of shame to him) to pay his electricity bill, allowing his kids to stay in the house. After another boxer cancels at the last minute, Jim's old manager, Joe Gould (played by Paul Giamatti) asks him to fight the number two contender in the world. There is little chance Jim will win, but this is a Ron Howard film, so...

As Jim continues to win fights, he moves closer to fighting the defending world champion, Max Baer (played by Craig Bierko), an arrogant and dangerous opponent in the ring. Jim's rags-to-riches story captivates the nation, earning him the nickname "Cinderella Man" and the fight is billed as a David vs. Goliath. Max Baer taunts Jim at every turn prior to the fight, attempting to humiliate him publicly. The boxing commissioner insists on showing footage of two of Baer's previous fights, where each boxer died from injuries sustained in the ring, so Jim is aware of what is at stake.

* CaliforniaDoubling: Toronto doubles for New York.

'''''Cinderella Man''''' is an American film released in 2005, directed by Creator/RonHoward, starring Creator/RussellCrowe, Creator/ReneeZellweger, Creator/PaulGiamatti and Craig Bierko. It loosely follows the story of RealLife boxing champion James J. Braddock, aka "Cinderella Man" (played by Russell Crowe). It was an uplifting underdog story, set in a time when the country very much needed one.

* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: Max Baer, who, as described above, was actually a generally nice guy in real life.

'''''Cinderella Man''''' is an American film released in 2005, directed by Creator/RonHoward, starring Creator/RussellCrowe, Creator/ReneeZellweger, Creator/PaulGiamatti and Craig Bierko. It loosely follows the story of RealLife boxing champion James J Braddock, aka "Cinderella Man" (played by Russell Crowe). It was an uplifting underdog story, set in a time when the country very much needed one.

* AmazingFreakingGrace - Joe [[SarcasmMode whistles "Danny Boy" while Jim is preparing for his fight]] against Baer.

* CaliforniaDoubling - Toronto doubles for New York
* CasualtyInTheRing - Baer's killed two opponents in the ring (in RealLife, only one and, contrary to the movie depiction, he felt ''really'' bad about it).
* TheDeterminator - Jim, especially in the last fight of the movie.
* EvenEvilHasStandards - Subverted; Baer initially appears to be uncomfortable about potentially leaving Braddock's family without a father, and offers to go easy on him if he doesn't put up too much of a fight. After Braddock turns that offer down though, it soon becomes obvious that in reality Baer has absolutely no problem with killing him, and that his offer to go easy was more than likely a psychological tactic.

* GroinAttack - Twice Max goes below the belt on Braddock.

* ItHasBeenAnHonor - Joe essentially says this before the fight against Baer.
* {{Jerkass}} - Max Baer.
* OhCrap - Joe when seeing Baer with murder in his eyes. Even the crowd reacts to it.

** Art Lasky gets a Oh Crap moment when Jim merely smiles after taking his best shot.
* OscarBait - Unfortunately due to the timing of its release, it was overlooked for most awards, but did get consideration for Best Supporting Actor for Paul Giamatti. He did not win the Oscar, but did at least win a SAG Award.
* PunchPunchPunchUhOh - One of Braddock's opponents is unnerved when Braddock smiles after taking a hard punch to the face.
* RagsToRiches - A story that captivates a down-trodden and destitute country.
* RealPersonCameo - The neighbor, Sara, is played by Rosemarie [=DeWitt=], Jimmy Braddock's RealLife granddaughter. An unusual example, in that [=DeWitt=] is a professional actress with a thriving career.
* RecycledTrailerMusic - The lack of box office success allows many trailers to reuse the music without as much recognition as other often-recycled scores. It made an appearance as the background music to NBC's final piece about luger Nodar Kumaritashvili from Georgia, who died in a training accident, right before the 2010 Olympics began.
* RousingSpeech - Joe is good at giving these in an unusually understated manner.

* SecondPersonAttack - Used for dramatic effect all throughout the fight scenes.
* SchmuckBait - During the Baer fight, Max has Jim in a headlock. Joe taunts Max, and it gives Jim the chance to slip out of the headlock and land a good shot on Max.

* SlasherSmile: A heroic example, Jim gives one to Art Lasky when Lasky hits him hard enough to knock out Jim's mouthguard from his mouth (Jim was bleeding from the mouth a bit, so the smile is a bit more demented than normal).

* UltimateSalesman - Joe.

* CasualtyInTheRing - Baer's killed two opponents in the ring (in RealLife, only one)

''Cinderella Man'' was a hit with critics (one of the best-reviewed films of that year), but not at the box office (just a $60 million domestic take). There are several theories as to why. When it was released, it [[DuelingMovies was up against]] another [[MillionDollarBaby boxing movie]] that had already garnered much box office success earlier in the year. It was also released in the summer, which critics largely agreed was not the right time for an emotional and evocative OscarBait film like this. Some theories also cite the negative portrayal of Max Baer. The filmmakers took a rather unusual step to boost ticket sales, by offering to refund the ticket cost of anyone who was dissatisfied with the film.

It has made its way to cable, and although it may not be as well-known as some of Howard's [[Film/{{Apollo 13}} other]] [[Film/FrostNixon better-received]] [[Film/ABeautifulMind films]], it is considered equal in quality and may just be able to [[VindicatedbyCable seep back into the public consciousness]] after all. Time will tell.

* OhCrap: Joe when seeing Baer with murder in his eyes. Even the crowd reacts to it.

Definitely not to be confused with ''Literature/{{Cinderella}}'' or the [[Music/Eminem]] song of the same name.

Definitely not to be confused with ''Literature/{{Cinderella}}''.

The film is loosely based on the real events of Jim Braddock's career. The filmmakers did take some liberties in the name of entertainment value, mostly in the depiction of Max Baer. In the movie, Baer is a true villain, a brutal and unsympathetic {{Jerkass}} who deserves nothing more than to be knocked off his pedestal by the more deserving and hard-working Braddock. This does not differ from press accounts at the time, who used this sensationalized view of Baer to promote his fights. However, all personal accounts from the time (including Braddock himself) have nothing but good things to say about Baer, a kind and earnest man, who made wise-cracks and was generally well-liked. In RealLife, Baer was only responsible for the in-ring death of one man, Frankie Campbell. This incident haunted Baer for the rest of his life, and he actually paid for the education of Campbell's children out of his winnings as a gesture of remorse.

* PunchPunchPunchUhOh

* TitleDrop

Definately not to be confused with ''Literature/{{Cinderella}}''.

It has made its way to cable, and although it may not be as well-known as some of Howard's [[{{Apollo13}} other]] [[Film/FrostNixon better-received]] [[Film/ABeautifulMind films]], it is considered equal in quality and may just be able to [[VindicatedbyCable seep back into the public consciousness]] after all. Time will tell.

* OhCrap Oh Shit: Joe when seeing Baer with murder in his eyes. Even the crowd reacts to it.

* SchmuckBait - During the Baer fight, Max has Jim in a headlock. Joe taunts Max and the distraction gives Jim time to slip the headlock and land a good shot on Max.
-->Joe: "Hey Maxlia! You gonna punch him or pork him?

It has made its way to cable, and although it may not be as well-known as some of Howard's [[{{Apollo13}} other]] [[WMG/FrostSlashNixon better-received]] [[Film/ABeautifulMind films]], it is considered equal in quality and may just be able to [[VindicatedbyCable seep back into the public consciousness]] after all. Time will tell.

'''''Cinderella Man''''' is an American film released in 2005, directed by Creator/RonHoward, starring RussellCrowe, ReneeZellweger, Paul Giamatti and Craig Bierko. It loosely follows the story of RealLife boxing champion James J Braddock, aka "Cinderella Man" (played by Russell Crowe). It was an uplifting underdog story, set in a time when the country very much needed one.

The film is loosely based on the real events of Jim Braddock's career. The filmmakers did take some liberties in the name of entertainment value, mostly in the depiction of Max Baer. In the movie, Baer is a true villain, a brutal and unsympathetic JerkAss who deserves nothing more than to be knocked off his pedestal by the more deserving and hard-working Braddock. This does not differ from press accounts at the time, who used this sensationalized view of Baer to promote his fights. However, all personal accounts from the time (including Braddock himself) have nothing but good things to say about Baer, a kind and earnest man, who made wise-cracks and was generally well-liked. In RealLife, Baer was only responsible for the in-ring death of one man, Frankie Campbell. This incident haunted Baer for the rest of his life, and he actually paid for the education of Campbell's children out of his winnings as a gesture of remorse.

* JerkAss - Max Baer.

''CinderellaMan'' was a hit with critics (one of the best-reviewed films of that year), but not at the box office (just a $60 million domestic take). There are several theories as to why. When it was released, it [[DuelingMovies was up against]] another [[MillionDollarBaby boxing movie]] that had already garnered much box office success earlier in the year. It was also released in the summer, which critics largely agreed was not the right time for an emotional and evocative OscarBait film like this. Some theories also cite the negative portrayal of Max Baer. The filmmakers took a rather unusual step to boost ticket sales, by offering to refund the ticket cost of anyone who was dissatisfied with the film.

''Cinderella Man'' is an American film released in 2005, directed by Creator/RonHoward, starring RussellCrowe, ReneeZellweger, Paul Giamatti and Craig Bierko. It loosely follows the story of RealLife boxing champion James J Braddock, aka "Cinderella Man" (played by Russell Crowe). It was an uplifting underdog story, set in a time when the country very much needed one.