Research Paper On Cinderella Man

Jessie Burgess

Professor McMullin

Movie Review #1

10/24/14

A Cinderella Story According to blogger Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts, Cinderella Man “grabs the heart, not only as a sports redemption story, but also as a tale of national inspiration.” Ron Howard’s Cinderella Man, is a biographical film that tells the fact-based tale of depression era boxing champion James J. Braddock. The film is titled after Braddock’s nickname, which he earned for his fairytale-like rise from a defeated man to the heavyweight boxing champion of the world. In the 1920s, Braddock was a talented professional boxer with notable strength and tenacity. Then, he suffered a series of defeats that caused his career to tailspin. In the midst of the Great Depression, Braddock broke his hand in the ring and was forced to retire from the sport. Like millions of other Americans, Braddock lost all of his possessions and savings with the crash of the stock market, and the movie documents his struggle to support his

The movie dramatized Max Baer’s character to capture the audience and make Braddock appear more heroic. Baer was a ferocious hitter, but he never taunted Braddock, and he was “villianized” for the sake of the movie. In a 1930 match, Baer killed a man, Frankie Campbell, but he was not the remorseless killer the movie made him out to be. Truthfully, Baer was a kind man who was devastated by the death of Frankie Campbell. In fact, Baer’s son, Max Baer Jr. stated, “My father cried about what happened to Frankie Campbell. He had nightmares. He helped put Frankie’s children through college.” Every story needs a villain, and perhaps Braddock truly viewed Baer as a threat to his success. Still, the film portrayed Baer inaccurately. Another minor inaccuracy is that Braddock was given more than two days to prepare for his second-chance fight against Corn