Cinderella Man
In 1928. James J. Braddock (Russell Crowe) is a hard-nosed, Irish-American boxer from New Jersey, formerly a light heavyweight contender. Braddock is a popular figure with a huge fan following and mos…
Cinderella Man
In 1928. James J. Braddock (Russell Crowe) is a hard-nosed, Irish-American boxer from New Jersey, formerly a light heavyweight contender. Braddock is a popular figure with a huge fan following and most of his fights take place at the Madison Square Garden. Braddock had never been knocked out in a fight. Braddock has a comfortable life, with a large home and makes almost $9000 for a couple of fights each month, which is good money back in those days. Braddock is married to Mae, who refuses to watch any of his fights as she says that every-time he is hit, she feels that she is hit too. Braddock competes in both the light-heavyweight and the heavyweight divisions with a 21-0 record. 16 of his wins came by way of knock outs. Braddock is forced to give up boxing after breaking his hand in the ring in 1929. This is both a relief and an upset to his wife, Mae (Renee Zellweger) as she cannot bring herself to watch the violence of his chosen profession, yet knows they will have no good income without him boxing. As the United States enters the Great Depression, Braddock does manual labor as a longshoreman to support his family, even after badly breaking his hand. By Sep 1933, the US had been in Depression for 4 years in a row. Braddock and Mae now live in a much smaller and worse off place, and have 3 kids together named Jey (Connor Price), Rosemarie "Rosy" (Ariel Waller) and Howard (Patrick Louis). Mae uses little leftover milk and mixes it with lots of water to feed it to her kids. Jay steals meat from a local butcher, but Braddock makes him return it. Unfortunately, Braddock cannot get work every day. Braddock takes up occasional fights in underground arenas. Even losing the fight would get Braddock $50, money that the family desperately needs. Braddock goes into the ring with a partial broken right hand, but has no option as he owes money to everybody he knows and he cannot get any shifts at work. In the ring, Braddock's right hand is useless and his left hook is not as potent as his right. Braddock breaks his right hand again in a fight against Abe Feldman (David Litzinger) when he tries to hit Feldman in his head with his right hand. Fight organizer James Johnston tells Braddock's manager Joe that fights like these keep the people away from coming. He tells Joe that he is revoking Braddock's license. James refuses to pay Braddock for the fight as well, calling it a no contest. Soon, in a few months, Braddock loses the electricity in his house, and he has sold everything of value to tide over hard times. His kids are falling sick due to the cold. Mae is reduced to getting wooden fencing outside business establishments to use them for firewood in her small basement apartment. Mae sends the kids off to her parents when the electricity is cut off due to non-payment of bills. Braddock goes to the boxing commission office and begs for money to pay the bill and to get his kids back. Joe cannot see Braddock reduced to being a beggar. Thanks to a last-minute cancellation by another boxer, Braddock's longtime manager and friend, Joe Gould (Paul Giamatti), offers him a chance to fill in for just this one night and make a little money. The fight is against the number-two contender in the world, Corn Griffin (Art Binkowski). The fight pays $250 and James approves it as a one time exception. The only reason Corn wants to fight Braddock is because Braddock has an undefeated record and no other fighter agreed to go up against Corn without training. On June 14th, 1934, Braddock, however, stuns the boxing experts and fans with a third-round knockout of his formidable opponent. He believes that while his right hand was broken, he became more proficient with his left hand, improving his in-ring ability. Against his wife's wishes, Braddock takes up Gould's offer to return to the ring. Mae resents this attempt by Gould to profit from her husband's dangerous livelihood, until she discovers that Gould and his wife (Linda Kash) also have been devastated by hard times. With a shot at the heavyweight championship held by Max Baer (Craig Bierko) a possibility, Braddock continues to win. Out of a sense of pride, he uses a portion of his prize money to pay back money to the government given to him while unemployed. When his rags to riches story gets out, the sportswriter Damon Runyon dubs him "The Cinderella Man," and before long Braddock comes to represent the hopes and aspirations of the American public struggling with the Depression. After wins against John Henry Lewis and Art Lasky, a title fight against Baer comes his way. Braddock is a 10-to-1 underdog. Mae is terrified because Baer, the champ, is a vicious man who reportedly has killed at least two men in the ring. He is so destructive that the fight's promoter, James Johnston (Bruce McGill), forces both Braddock and Gould to watch a film of Baer in action, just so he can maintain later that he warned them what Braddock was up against. Braddock demonstrates no fear. The arrogant Baer attempts to intimidate him, even taunting Mae in public that her man might not survive. When he says this, Mae becomes so angry that she throws a drink at him. She cannot bring herself to attend the fight at the Madison Square Garden Bowl or even to listen to it on the radio. On June 13, 1935, in one of the biggest achievements in boxing history, Braddock defeats the seemingly invincible Baer to become the heavyweight champion of the world. An epilogue reveals that Braddock would lose his title to Joe Louis (who would later call Braddock "the most courageous man I ever fought") and later worked on the building of the Verrazzano Bridge, owning and operating heavy machinery on the docks where he worked during the Depression, and that he and Mae used his boxing income to buy a house, where they spent the rest of their lives.
Cinderella Man
Biography,Drama,Romance
Film Details
In 1928. James J. Braddock (Russell Crowe) is a hard-nosed, Irish-American boxer from New Jersey, formerly a light heavyweight contender.
Braddock is a popular figure with a huge fan following and most of his fights take place at the Madison Square Garden. Braddock had never been knocked out in a fight. Braddock has a comfortable life, with a large home and makes almost $9000 for a couple of fights each month, which is good money back in those days.
Braddock is married to Mae, who refuses to watch any of his fights as she says that every-time he is hit, she feels that she is hit too. Braddock competes in both the light-heavyweight and the heavyweight divisions with a 21-0 record. 16 of his wins came by way of knock outs.
Braddock is forced to give up boxing after breaking his hand in the ring in 1929. This is both a relief and an upset to his wife, Mae (Renee Zellweger) as she cannot bring herself to watch the violence of his chosen profession, yet knows they will have no good income without him boxing. As the United States enters the Great Depression, Braddock does manual labor as a longshoreman to support his family, even after badly breaking his hand.
By Sep 1933, the US had been in Depression for 4 years in a row. Braddock and Mae now live in a much smaller and worse off place, and have 3 kids together named Jey (Connor Price), Rosemarie "Rosy" (Ariel Waller) and Howard (Patrick Louis). Mae uses little leftover milk and mixes it with lots of water to feed it to her kids.
Jay steals meat from a local butcher, but Braddock makes him return it. Unfortunately, Braddock cannot get work every day. Braddock takes up occasional fights in underground arenas.
Even losing the fight would get Braddock $50, money that the family desperately needs. Braddock goes into the ring with a partial broken right hand, but has no option as he owes money to everybody he knows and he cannot get any shifts at work. In the ring, Braddock's right hand is useless and his left hook is not as potent as his right.
Braddock breaks his right hand again in a fight against Abe Feldman (David Litzinger) when he tries to hit Feldman in his head with his right hand. Fight organizer James Johnston tells Braddock's manager Joe that fights like these keep the people away from coming. He tells Joe that he is revoking Braddock's license.
James refuses to pay Braddock for the fight as well, calling it a no contest. Soon, in a few months, Braddock loses the electricity in his house, and he has sold everything of value to tide over hard times. His kids are falling sick due to the cold.
Mae is reduced to getting wooden fencing outside business establishments to use them for firewood in her small basement apartment. Mae sends the kids off to her parents when the electricity is cut off due to non-payment of bills. Braddock goes to the boxing commission office and begs for money to pay the bill and to get his kids back.
Joe cannot see Braddock reduced to being a beggar. Thanks to a last-minute cancellation by another boxer, Braddock's longtime manager and friend, Joe Gould (Paul Giamatti), offers him a chance to fill in for just this one night and make a little money. The fight is against the number-two contender in the world, Corn Griffin (Art Binkowski).
The fight pays $250 and James approves it as a one time exception. The only reason Corn wants to fight Braddock is because Braddock has an undefeated record and no other fighter agreed to go up against Corn without training. On June 14th, 1934, Braddock, however, stuns the boxing experts and fans with a third-round knockout of his formidable opponent.
He believes that while his right hand was broken, he became more proficient with his left hand, improving his in-ring ability. Against his wife's wishes, Braddock takes up Gould's offer to return to the ring. Mae resents this attempt by Gould to profit from her husband's dangerous livelihood, until she discovers that Gould and his wife (Linda Kash) also have been devastated by hard times.
With a shot at the heavyweight championship held by Max Baer (Craig Bierko) a possibility, Braddock continues to win. Out of a sense of pride, he uses a portion of his prize money to pay back money to the government given to him while unemployed. When his rags to riches story gets out, the sportswriter Damon Runyon dubs him "The Cinderella Man," and before long Braddock comes to represent the hopes and aspirations of the American public struggling with the Depression.
After wins against John Henry Lewis and Art Lasky, a title fight against Baer comes his way. Braddock is a 10-to-1 underdog. Mae is terrified because Baer, the champ, is a vicious man who reportedly has killed at least two men in the ring.
He is so destructive that the fight's promoter, James Johnston (Bruce McGill), forces both Braddock and Gould to watch a film of Baer in action, just so he can maintain later that he warned them what Braddock was up against. Braddock demonstrates no fear. The arrogant Baer attempts to intimidate him, even taunting Mae in public that her man might not survive.
When he says this, Mae becomes so angry that she throws a drink at him. She cannot bring herself to attend the fight at the Madison Square Garden Bowl or even to listen to it on the radio. On June 13, 1935, in one of the biggest achievements in boxing history, Braddock defeats the seemingly invincible Baer to become the heavyweight champion of the world.
An epilogue reveals that Braddock would lose his title to Joe Louis (who would later call Braddock "the most courageous man I ever fought") and later worked on the building of the Verrazzano Bridge, owning and operating heavy machinery on the docks where he worked during the Depression, and that he and Mae used his boxing income to buy a house, where they spent the rest of their lives..