Cinderella Man movie review

Who served as the inspiration for thousands of struggling people through the great depression? Though many think it was someone of more popularity, the real answer lies within the main character depicted in Ron Howard’s emotionally charged movie, Cinderella Man. The Cinderella Man in this case is boxer Jim Braddock, who, before the depression, succeeded in the sport, yet, when the depression hit, he too was affected, and fought with his wife to feed their three children. Jim Braddock’s “rise from the ‘dead’” gave inspiration to struggling families all throughout New York City, where the depression hit hardest. Ron Howard depicts this through three characteristics of Jim Braddock, his eagerness to help friends through the depression, his passion for boxing, and his love for his family.
The first characteristic of Jim Braddock that is shown consistently throughout the movie is his eagerness to help friends through the hard financial times of the depression. He does this mainly by helping his one good friend, Mike Wilson. They met by being assigned to jobs together while working on the docks and ever since, they kept in touch and helped each other through the hardships faced. Many times in the movie, Mike shows up drunk to an event, and Jim helps him along with his wife. For example, at a birthday party after church one day, Mike is no where to be found, then shows up drunk to the church. Jim sees his friend potentially harming his wife, and helps him along. Another time, after the church incident, Mike goes missing, and his wife comes to Mike’s trustworthy friend, Jim. He eventually finds Mike injured in Central Park after searching for hours, and does his best to take care of him. His commitment to helping his friends and others is shown consistently throughout the movie.
Furthermore, Jim’s passion for boxing helped carry him on the long “Cinderella” journey. Because Jim was unemployed, boxing was his only money source, apart from a small part time job at the docks. He took every single fight his trainer offered him, no matter how hard his opponent. At the end of his boxing run, he had to fight Max Baer, the current heavyweight champion, however, Baer had already killed two people in the ring, and Jim still fought him out of passion for the sport, and need of money to support his family, despite his wife’s pleas to get out of the fight.
That brings us to our third and final point, Jim Braddock’s love for his wife and three children. This great love is what helped him through fights, hard work at the docks, and other struggling and hard times. The movie portrays Jim as spending his time with the children when he was home, teaching them about boxing and playing with them. When his children are moved away from home because of their sickness, he does everything he can to get them back living all together again. All throughout the movie, his family is portrayed as what drives him succeed. Numerous times in a fight, he would reflect to his family, then become reinvigorated and win.
This movie not only portrays the hardships of the great depression, but shows how and what people did to help each other along through these hard times. Although there were many people who abandoned their families out of selfishness, Jim Braddock, a once successful boxer, shows his love and passion for the one thing he loves most, his family. The movie Cinderella Man, not only focuses on the boxing aspect of things, but also focuses on what everyday life was in New York during the great depression. The incredible story of Jim Braddock’s rise from retirement truly merits him the title “Cinderella Man.”