Boxer Jim Braddock (Russell Crowe) earned the nickname "Cinderella Man" because of his fairytale rise from a poor, hometown New York fighter, struggling to feed his family and keep the heat on in his house, to the heavyweight boxing champion of the world. From his first fight in 1926 until late 1928, things were good for Jim, both at home and in the ring. He was happily married to Mae (Renee Zellweger), who always backed him up even though she did not attend his fights. They had three great kids that they would do anything for. Jim had a decent win/lose record going into 1928. The fight game was okay because the money was decent.

Braddock’s weakness was an injury prone right hand and a weak left. He was banned from boxing for fighting injured too often (trying to pay his bills). The Great Depression closed in on nearly everyone. As fate (and some would say bad luck) would have it, Braddock became a day laborer on the docks. With a bum right hand Braddock developed his left hand through the repetitive hard work.

Max Baer (Craig Bierko) was an outsized, over-the-top fighter whose ego made Muhammad Ali’s personality look like a shrinking violet. Braddock was a 10-1 underdog when he beat Max Baer in 1935. He won the heavyweight championship in a thrilling 15 round decision. Two years later Joe Louis knocked Braddock out even though he floored Joe early in the fight.

Russell Crowe carries a self-confident, quiet strength and pride to his role as the man who gives his all to his family and his profession as a boxer. Renee Zellweger’s Mae is the soft-spoken, shy-eyed type, unless you stir her ire. Paul Giamatti turns in yet another Academy Award performance as Jim’s trainer and corner man.

With a good story, three exceptional actors, and though you know the outcome of the fight, there is plenty of drama. We probably would have liked the film better if it had more of the grit of "Raging Bull." The boxing sequences were believable, well choreographed, with the right amount of blood letting. Some of "home-front" scenes, however, particularly with Zellweger, were a bit on the "soft focus" side. The slick production of the too-clean, poor living areas and placing Zellweger in a "dancer’s" spotlight outside her door, did not convey the "Grapes of Wrath" depression reality that so many other scenes achieved.

Also some good footage was probably left on the cutting floor involving a story that was only partially played out with Mike (Paddy Considine of "In America" and "My Summer of Love"). A neighbor of Jim’s and a fellow dock worker, it appears that Mike was also a union organizer during the Depression. Driven out a job, Mike moved to a Central Park we’ve never seen before¾ a tent-city, with cardboard lean-tos. During the Great Depression, these so called "Hoovervilles" (named after President Hoover who was blamed for creating the Depression) sprung up throughout the country because many families lost their homes since they could not pay their mortgages. If we had a better understanding of the desperation behind Mike and his wife Sara (Rosemarie DeWitt), the darker side of the movie would have come together more completely.

But with the running time of almost 2 ½ hours, the film was about as long as it was allowed to be. The DVD version may add footage back in and create a film that is better than you see in the theaters because of the attempt of studios to keep films at about two hours. That’s Hollywood for you!