Starring:
Russel Crowe
Renee Zellwager
Paul Giamatti
The story of Depression-era fighter and folk hero Jim Braddock, who defeated heavyweight champ Max Baer in a 15-round slugfest in 1935.
Recent News:
New dad Russell Crowe's shoulder injury has come back to haunt him on the set of boxing movie Cinderella Man - he has closed the film down after dislocating it again. The actor suffered his first injury while shooting Gladiator and then again on the set of circus drama Flora Plum. His pain was so extreme he had to pull out of the project. And now he has to undergo surgery and physical therapy to rehab his shoulder again. Insiders claim the Cinderella Man set will be shut down for a month, to allow the star to recover. That'll mean a nice Oscars break for Renee Zellweger, who stars alongside Crowe in the Ron Howard-directed movie.
Release Date:
December 17, 2004
In America Star Considine Joins Cinderella Man
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
English actor Paddy Considine (In America) is in talks to make his major studio debut starring opposite Russell Crowe in Universal Pictures/Miramax Films' period boxing project Cinderella Man. Ron Howard is directing and producing along with Brian Grazer and Penny Marshall.
Russell Crowe stars in the story inspired by the life of legendary athlete Jim Braddock, a once-promising light heavyweight boxer forced into retirement after a string of losses in the ring. As the nation enters the darkest years of the Great Depression, Braddock accepts a string of dead-end jobs to support his wife, Mae (Renee Zellweger), and their children, while never totally abandoning his dream of boxing again.
Thanks to a last minute cancellation, Braddock finds himself back in the ring against the second-ranked world contender--and to everyone's amazement, Braddock wins in the third round. Despite being pounds lighter than his opponents and repeated injuries to his hands, Braddock continues to fight against challengers and win. Carrying on his shoulders the hopes and dreams of the disenfranchised masses, Braddock, dubbed the "Cinderella Man," faces his toughest challenger in Max Baer (Craig Bierko), the heavyweight champion of the world, renowned for having killed two men in the ring.
Written by Cliff Hollingsworth, C. Gaby Mitchell, Akiva Goldsman, the film also stars Paul Giamatti. Considine would star as Hank, Braddock's best friend and fellow dockworker.
Trailer Here (http://www.apple.com/trailers/universal/cinderella_man/)
It looks quite prestigous.
funniest trailer of the year
Just watched the trailer.
That's three minutes of my life I'm not getting back.
My God. It's Seabiscuit, but with a man.
trillion dollar baby.
Quote from: Small Town Loner
Release Date:
December 17, 2004
yeah, what happened to that date? even as recently as a few weeks ago the damn Washington Post holiday movie preview had this listed as being released this month.
Quote from: themodernage02Quote from: Small Town Loner
Release Date:
December 17, 2004
yeah, what happened to that date? even as recently as a few weeks ago the damn Washington Post holiday movie preview had this listed as being released this month.
Quote from: Small Town Loner
Recent News:
New dad Russell Crowe's shoulder injury has come back to haunt him on the set of boxing movie Cinderella Man - he has closed the film down after dislocating it again. The actor suffered his first injury while shooting Gladiator and then again on the set of circus drama Flora Plum. His pain was so extreme he had to pull out of the project. And now he has to undergo surgery and physical therapy to rehab his shoulder again. Insiders claim the Cinderella Man set will be shut down for a month, to allow the star to recover. That'll mean a nice Oscars break for Renee Zellweger, who stars alongside Crowe in the Ron Howard-directed movie.
Probably delayed because of this.
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New Trailer here. (http://playlist.yahoo.com/makeplaylist.dll?id=1350626&sdm=web&qtw=480&qth=300)
The Golden Hue of the entire movie seems to subliminally say "Oscar."
I still say it looks exactly like Seabiscuit, but with a man. You've got hope in the Depression-era in the form of sports, an animal/man that no one believes in until he starts winning, and people listening to the big final race/fight over the radio and pumping their fists and stuff like that.
Am I the only one who cringes when I hear the title of this movie. Cinderella Man. Are you F-ing kidding me?
no, seriously. Are you kidding me?
Quote from: POZERAm I the only one who cringes when I hear the title of this movie. Cinderella Man. Are you F-ing kidding me?
no, seriously. Are you kidding me?
the public likes the title. trust me, I asked.
russel crowe is like the mel gibson of actors.
Quote from: POZERAm I the only one who cringes when I hear the title of this movie. Cinderella Man. Are you F-ing kidding me?
no, seriously. Are you kidding me?
You're not the only one. I can hear the audience chortling a little when the title comes onscreen in theaters.
The Cinderella part disinterests men, and the Man part makes it hard for women to identify. It's a lose-lose title.
Actually I don't know what I'm talking about with that, since the movie will probably do very well. Lots of people will want to see it, despite laughing a little at the title. It'll be like A Beautiful Mind, pretty much (not the funny title part, the successful part).
ughh... same with "million dollar baby" and look what happened with that.. can we all move on from this title groaning?
I hear they're both about boxing, too.
Quote from: Cinephileughh... same with "million dollar baby" and look what happened with that.. can we all move on from this title groaning?
not the same. mdb sounds intriguing. cinderella man sounds like two random words idiot marketing executives threw together in a pitch frenzy.
but yeah it's irrelevant in the end. cos if anything will ruin this movie it's likely to be the eyeless she-devil, zellwegger.
and nothing will stop the The Producers this year.
That new trailer gets the job done. It's got me totally interested. Sure, they are just clawing at an Oscar, but if it's good why not? I didn't like A Beautiful Mind very much, but this looks promising. However, what the fuck was that shit music on the trailer, the same music that's on every emotionally evocative trailer? I hate that piece.
I think it will be interesting to see this film's masculine comeback compared to MDB's feminine comeback. And two boxing movies to win oscars in a row, that'll be interesting.
no, it wouldn't be.
i saw this today and i liked it. if you arent interested, you wont like it. if you think you might like it and dont mind ron howard, you will enjoy this. he gets the job done, the cast is good unless you already hate some of them in which case you will find them annoying. and only the most cynical among you will leave with your tearducts in tact. damn, times was hard! but, i really liked it. obvious oscarbait aside, atleast its opening in june and not december even if that wasnt the original plan. B
Quote from: Pubrickcos if anything will ruin this movie it's likely to be the eyeless she-devil, zellwegger.
haha.. so true.. I can't stand Anorexiawegger.
Quote from: themodernage02i saw this today and i liked it. if you arent interested, you wont like it. if you think you might like it and dont mind ron howard, you will enjoy this. he gets the job done, the cast is good unless you already hate some of them in which case you will find them annoying. and only the most cynical among you will leave with your tearducts in tact. damn, times was hard! but, i really liked it. obvious oscarbait aside, atleast its opening in june and not december even if that wasnt the original plan. B
i really wasn't all that interested to tell you the truth but ended up loving it. i can't remember another picture that painted the depression era this well. howard's direction in this film suprised me too. where he chose to put the camera, whose reaction he chose to hold with to avoid sappiness, how he avoided putting music in certain spots for the same reason. and the fight scns. were so well done. i saw it at the arclight in hollywood which is such an amazing place to see a movie for those who don't know. every punch echoed throughout the theater. such a pleasant theatrical experiance. very suprised.
Paul Giamatti steals the fucking show.
i like it when his tummy gargles
This movie looks like a gleaming turd. Stereotypes left and right. I think if Zellwegger weren't in it, I might CONSIDER seeing it on DVD.
My favorite bad review so far:
"65 years after John Ford's wrenching The Grapes of Wrath, Hollywood seems to have concluded that the Great Depression was, in fact, a pretty great time to be alive."
Quote from: RegularKarate
My favorite bad review so far:
"65 years after John Ford's wrenching The Grapes of Wrath, Hollywood seems to have concluded that the Great Depression was, in fact, a pretty great time to be alive."
Thats fucking classic - what publication was this from?
After watching the trailer I did think to myself - doesn't everyone look a little clean and healthy for the depression...Isn't renee's hair a little too perfectly maintained?
I can't see this movie if I wanted to. I'm glad to see their are a few others that dislike Zellweger as much as I do. She simply ruins films for me. I can't look at her for more than a few frames. Just terrible.
Quote from: cowboykurtisThats fucking classic - what publication was this from?
Nick Schager from Slant Magazine
Quote from: themodernage02i saw this today and i liked it. if you arent interested, you wont like it. if you think you might like it and dont mind ron howard, you will enjoy this. he gets the job done, the cast is good unless you already hate some of them in which case you will find them annoying. and only the most cynical among you will leave with your tearducts in tact. damn, times was hard! but, i really liked it. obvious oscarbait aside, atleast its opening in june and not december even if that wasnt the original plan. B
I'm gonna skip the cynics and say I very much look forward to seeing this. Albeit times are dry right now, after seeing the fantastic four trailer and some other piece of junk about some magic plane that threatens to put some pilots out of work. Are the Seabiscuit comparisons worthless? Not that its a bad story but I'd hope there was something new in this underdog story.
Quote from: dufresnePaul Giamatti steals the fucking show.
Yeah.
I saw it last night. I thought it was Capra-esque. You know the whole 'man on the down and outs and society pulls together for him' type story.
Craig Bierko the man that played Max Baer was in my dream.
I felt the same. It's good, but not great. Very sentimental and old-fashioned. Crowe and Giamatti were the best things in the movie.
The Heavyweight
He's an Oscar-winning director, but gets flak for being a softie. With 'Cinderella Man,' it's time to rethink Ron Howard.
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George Kraychyk
Heavy hitters: Crowe (left) and Howard on the set
By Devin Gordon
Newsweek
May 2 issue - Many directors have said it's a pleasure working with the famously mercurial Russell Crowe. Ron Howard is not one of them. "Directing Russell is like shooting on a tropical island," he says. "The weather is going to change several times a day, but you're shooting there for a reason. Sometimes those dark clouds are just what you need. And sometimes"—he laughs—"you wish it would stop raining so you can do the sunny scene." Still, Howard insists that he adores Crowe, and if he's lying, he must be a masochist. The men are already planning a third collaboration even though their second, "Cinderella Man," the true story of boxer Jim Braddock's improbable rise to glory during the Depression, doesn't open until June. It's a curious pairing. Howard, 51, is known as one of the most genial guys in Hollywood; Crowe is not. But it works. Crowe gets a director unfazed by his Vesuvian blasts and unintimidated by his talent. And Howard gets from the actor something that his movies, even the very good ones, have often needed: an edge.
To date, Ron Howard has made 17 films—a diverse portfolio of thrillers, dramas, comedies and zero sequels—that have grossed more than $1.3 billion in the United States alone. His fee is about $10 million per movie, which is just down the street from Mr. Spielberg's neighborhood. He's an Oscar winner (for 2002's "A Beautiful Mind," his first film with Crowe) and a two-time Directors Guild award winner. But among critics, cineastes and even some in Hollywood, he can't seem to shake his rep as a cruiserweight—one division shy of the big guns, more artisan than artist. "It's a bummer that it doesn't compute the way it should," says Brian Grazer, Howard's longtime producer at Imagine Entertainment. "There are many directors who get fussed over a lot more than Ron and who have had significantly less impact. But he's just such a no-fuss guy. He doesn't wear all black clothes. He's not Paul Thomas Anderson—he doesn't have three names. Maybe he should." "Cinderella Man," which costars Renee Zellweger, who won an Oscar for "Cold Mountain," and Paul Giamatti, whom we're prepared to nominate right now for his supporting role as Braddock's corner man, is a vintage Ron Howard film. Make that a vintage Ron William Howard film: a humble crowd-pleaser with more intensity and elegance than at first appears. Just like the guy who made it.
During his acceptance speech at the Golden Globes for "A Beautiful Mind," Crowe praised his director for his "honor as a man"—a comment that upended perceptions of Howard as an affable softie. He was now a lion tamer with the blessing of the biggest cat in the jungle. "I think Russell believes the world is divided between guys who are men and guys who are pussies," says Grazer. "His speaking up for Ron was really important. It was essentially him saying that Ron is a deeper person than anyone realizes. It was our Brando going, 'Hey, this guy is good'." Says Crowe: "I get involved in what I do, and that doesn't bother someone at ease with himself like Ron is. He knows I'll never be as hard on him as I am on myself on his behalf. And he's OK with that deal."
While filming "A Beautiful Mind," Crowe mentioned to Howard that he would next make "Cinderella Man" with director Lasse Halstrom ("Chocolat"). When the deal fell through, Crowe lobbied his new pal to step in. Howard, coincidentally, has had a lifelong interest in the Depression. As a high schooler, he made a 30-minute documentary about the subject for his social-studies class. "That was the end of dabbling for me, and the beginning of filmmaking," says Howard. He also admired the story of Braddock: a decent family man and gifted fighter who lost every penny in the Depression, got stripped of his boxing license and was reduced to accepting handouts to feed his family—then jabbed his way back to the top after getting one last chance in the ring. "Men felt utterly degraded in that era," says Howard. "So many of them disintegrated under the pressure. And Braddock didn't."
"Cinderella Man" may be an optimist's take on a bleak era, but it's not the Depression Lite. And its searing middle act should help answer the rap on Howard that he's not gritty enough to excavate the ugliness of real life. "Ron said to me when I first met him that he was interested not in a boxing movie per se, but in making a drama about a family living through the Depression," says Giamatti. The film's most vivid sequence isn't a fight but a quiet, tragic moment when Braddock's wife visits an old friend's massive Manhattan apartment, now stripped bare except for a few chairs and a rickety table. It's arguably Howard's specialty: an actors' moment.
Which explains why the best keep climbing in the ring with him. On his next film, a tiny, under-the-radar thriller called "The Da Vinci Code," for which he was hired by Columbia studio chief Amy Pascal and producer John Calley, he'll direct Tom Hanks for the third time, as well as Ian McKellen. "I'm just not willing to make adjustments to try to change how people categorize me," says Howard. "I guess that's the bottom line. Sure, I notice it. Would I love to be everybody's darling? Of course." Then he laughs. "Although, when you do this job long enough, you notice that it never really lasts." Howard's more concerned with making movies that will.
© 2005 Newsweek, Inc.
Money-back guarantee offered for 'Cinderella Man'
In a rare marketing ploy, the No. 2 U.S. movie theater chain, AMC Entertainment, is offering a money-back guarantee to customers for boxing picture "Cinderella Man," hoping to boost interest in the struggling film amid a record box-office slump.
Advertisements offering on-the-spot refunds to AMC patrons began running on June 24 in newspapers and on the exhibitor's Web site (www.amctheaters.com), AMC spokeswoman Pam Blase said on Tuesday.
The ads, welcomed by the film's distributor, Universal Pictures, say in part: "AMC believes Cinderella Man is one of the finest motion pictures of the year!"
Blase said AMC provides occasional rebates to dissatisfied moviegoers on a case-by-case basis. But the "Cinderella Man" offer marks the exhibitor's first money-back guarantee since "Mystic Pizza," Julia Robert's breakout 1988 film.
"This is highly unusual," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracking service Exhibitor Relations Inc. "That's putting your money where your mouth is."
The major studios and theater owners have now posted 18 straight weekends of year-to-year declines in ticket sales, the longest slump since analysts began keeping detailed box office tallies. Some industry observers have attributed the slump in part to a string of films widely regarded as subpar.
Starring Russell Crowe as the Depression-era boxing hero Jim Braddock, "Cinderella Man" has received generally favorable reviews but fallen flat at the box office.
The movie, which cost a reported $88 million to make, opened the weekend of June 3-5 and has grossed a lackluster $49.8 million through its fourth weekend.
Executives at Universal, a unit of General Electric Co., have acknowledged they took a gamble releasing a period drama aimed at adult moviegoers early in a summer movie season awash in high-octane popcorn fare targeting younger audiences.
Blase said the AMC has not decided how much longer to keep "Cinderella Man" in theaters, a decision that Universal said was up to individual exhibitors at this point.
The number of refunds requested since the promotion began has been "minuscule," but no figures were yet available, Blase said. Nor was there any way to tell whether admissions to "Cinderella Man" have risen since the offer began, she said.
QuoteExecutives at Universal, a unit of General Electric Co., have acknowledged they took a gamble releasing a period drama aimed at adult moviegoers early in a summer movie season awash in high-octane popcorn fare targeting younger audiences.
that's clearly not a factor since the "high-octane popcorn fare" is doing just as bad.
QuoteNor was there any way to tell whether admissions to "Cinderella Man" have risen since the offer began, she said.
haha, doesn't that kinda defeats the whole purpose of the stunt..
this reeks of desperation! how delicious.
Quote from: PubrickQuoteExecutives at Universal, a unit of General Electric Co., have acknowledged they took a gamble releasing a period drama aimed at adult moviegoers early in a summer movie season awash in high-octane popcorn fare targeting younger audiences.
that's clearly not a factor since the "high-octane popcorn fare" is doing just as bad.
Oh, it's a factor.
Who releases a boxing movie or prison drama right in the middle of the summer? I don't understand why studios can't be patient and market something like this when people will actually go see it. That means releasing it around November or December, right before Oscar season ramps up.
..gamble :roll:
million dollar baby coming out first screwed this movie SO BADLY.
Or maybe the fact that people dont like to see Maximus playing a super nice guy after making headlines of being agressive...
I dont know really... I havent seen it yet... its supposed to be a really good movie... and its true that everyone that sees it (especially older people) love it. But the marketing failed, and somehow the whole thing doesnt atract people as it should... there is no excuse for launching this movie at this time of the year... its bullshit
it doesn't look like a good movie. if it looked good people would see it.
Quote from: picolasit doesn't look like a good movie. if it looked good people would see it.
"That's right, the people don't come because you grandiose motherfuckers don't play shit that they like. If you played the shit that they like, then people would come, simple as that. " - Mo Better Blues
Few Filmgoers Take Theaters Up on Refunds
A handful of viewers asked for a refund after catching "Cinderella Man," while most moviegoers went away satisfied, according to theater chains that offered a money-back guarantee.
Cinemark spokeswoman Terrell Falk said she did not have exact numbers Wednesday but that only a couple dozen people wanted their cost of admission back in the 26 markets where the chain offered the refunds over the Fourth of July weekend.
The Cinemark deal followed a similar program AMC Entertainment offered at theaters nationwide.
AMC spokeswoman Pam Blase said about 100 people have requested refunds since June 24, when the company began its money-back guarantee at 100 theaters.
AMC and Cinemark were seeking to spotlight director Ron Howard's acclaimed boxing drama that stars Russell Crowe and Renee Zellweger, a film that has been an underachiever with just $54 million at the box office. The film, which has been out for five weeks, made $3 million over the holiday weekend.
"It's in competition with films with lots of special effects and big action this summer. This is a quiet film," Falk said. "The whole effort was to focus attention on what is a beautiful film that deserves an audience but just hasn't gotten one."
Since there are said comparisions to Seabiscuit (which I loved), I'll start by saying that it doesn't come close to that film in capturing what that era was like and how a particular event it gripped the country. But it does well in showing the relationships between the main characters. And that's what made it hard not to get caught up in the underdog story.
Cinematography and sound design were beautiful. My only gripe was the editing of the boxing matches, mostly, the final bout. When a series of shots got exciting, it would cut away to an audience reaction shot or how those not at the venue were responding. It killed the build-up of involvement. And boxing will always be compared to Raging Bull, which this film seemed to have "borrowed" a few things from. However, the shots that showed what was happening to the body internally were awesome.
you should give "crying fist" a shot, I'm dead serious.
It cracks me up how Universal is trying so damn hard to push this flick for awards and whatnot. It's not some masterpiece of film, just a solid boxing movie/biopic. I really didn't think I'd like it, I'm certainly not a Howard fan, and really not a fan of the last Howard/Crowe collaboration. But it won me over. I got wrapped in the drama. Yeah, I have my gripes (the flashes are forced, and Baer's nice-ness after the loss, though mostly pushed to the edge of the frame, seemed off), but I will say this-- I sat up and got close to the screen during the finale. I was into it.
Quote from: Weak2ndAct on December 24, 2005, 05:31:20 AM
I sat up and got close to the screen during the finale.
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I'm very surprised but I really liked this movie. It really had me interested and excited all the way... and it was very emotional. I havent really liked Russell Crowe after Gladiator, and I thought their previous collaboration with Ron Howard (Beautiful Mind) was super overrated. Now, talk about timing... Beautiful Mind was a success for the release date and it got all the Awards buzz... this one failed cause its not a movie that you want to release when people want to see Star Wars or Spiderman. If they do a good campaign, it will get some good nominations. It deserves them, just for the fact that there are not many good films this year, and that I consider it way better than Beautiful Mind, which got them.
Gawd bless ya Ron Howard.
I was into it, too. Really into it. And now I'm kind of disappointed that he's doing The Da Vinci Code. I think he was far more under-stated here than usual and it really elevated this film above his others.
The internal shot of the rib punch was brilliant. As well as most of the other boxing match flare.
Yesterday was a double bill of xixax favorites Crash and this one, just so I update the possible award candidates, because if you must know the theaters around here are showing a pile of crap, Jarhead was the 'big' flim that was released on friday, and yet to come around here are...just about everything else.
While I didn't like Crash at all I really liked Cinderella Man, not a masterpiece or anything but it was very entertaining.
Totally entertaining. But I'm thinking it will ultimately be forgettable (see Hurricane).
The only things that I'll complain about are:
-Some awful dialog (mainly by Zellweger)
-Some editing that took me out for a second
Other than that it was all good. Just don't go in expecting RAGING BULL :)