Cinderella Man (2005)
Ron Howard's excellent biopic of boxer James J. Braddock. Russell Crowe plays Braddock, a boxer forced to retire due to a hand broken in three places just as the US enters the Great Depression. Poverty sets in for Braddock, wife Rene Zellweger (Never better in my opinion) and their three children until out of the blue he receives an offer, an offer that would see him win the nickname Cinderella Man.
Cinderella Man is both a gritty boxing film and an equally gritty look at social problems during the Depression. Howard's direction especially during the bouts is taut and tense whilst Crowe slipping back into Maximus' underdog mode is at his appealing everyman best.
There you go, and i never even mentioned yet another scene stealing turn from Paul Giamatti as Braddock's manager.
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