Not for the faint of heart
Okay, so
maybe the reason I’m doing this “Golden Oldie” thing is that it takes far less
energy to view a movie than to blunder through the seemingly endless biography of FDR that I have
been contending with for at least month. I admire any writer who has the self-control and
persistence needed to produce a book running to tens of thousands (hell, maybe millions) of words. About all I can manage
are blog bits consisting of a few short paragraphs, and thus I find myself turning to my computer for respite and relaxation. But,
anyway. . . .
Last night I
watched the 2005 boxing movie Cinderella Man, starring Russell
Crowe and Renee Zellwegger, with an award-winning performance by Paul Giamatti*
in support. The director was Ron Howard,
of whom many good things are said. I
liked it a lot. B+.
However, if
you are faint of heart or tender of sensibility you may this a hard flick to watch. The first half takes place in
a Jersey tenement during the worst of the Great Depression. It truly it is hard to watch. This half of the picture really belongs to
Zellweger*; you can hardly avoid sharing her desperation and helplessness as her life dissolves around her. As
far as I can see she didn’t receive any awards or nominations for her efforts,
which is a shame. Crowe is great here, too. You share the humiliation of this proud man who, through no fault of his own finds himself unable to
provide for his family. It almost hurts to
watch.
However, the
second half of the movie is all boxing, with Crowe and Giamatti, lots of
violence, and plenty of blood. It tells the (true) story of how
light-heavyweight James J. Braddock fought his way up the ladder to take the
title away from a truly nasty specimen, Max Baer. (At least Baer is portrayed in the movie as
nasty bastard; I didn’t know him personally.)
So, bottom
line: Most of you will enjoy this movie,
and those of you who quit when the blood begins to flow will at least have
learned a few things about the age your grandparents lived through. Or great grandparents.
*Giamatti
deserves his award; Zellweger deserves one.
And, by the way, Giamatti appears as co-star of a disgusting flick
called Sideways, which I
despise. Don’t see it. Ever
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