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June 06, 2005
One-two punch
Some nights after my wife falls asleep grading papers on the couch, I watch old fights on television. My wife loathes boxing. She sees the sweet science merely as one person trying to hurt another, and what’s to like about that?
But on Friday nights when I was a kid, my dad and I watched Carmen Basilio, Gene Fullmer, Bobo Olson, Emile Griffith and scores of others feint and parry on our black and white TV. Now, some of those fighters, along with replays of the Johanson-Patterson trilogy, Clay-Liston I and II and many others that were not on TV at the time, are prime-time regulars. I’ve lost touch with today’s boxing world, but I like the old fights.
And I’m a sucker for boxing movies. I couldn't wait to see Cinderella Man. I’d breezed through James J. Braddock’s biography at a bookstore coffee shop a month ago, so I knew the story. I had also seen reviews of the film, including one in which a cynic poked fun at Renée Zellweger’s line to Russell Crowe: “Jimmy, you’re the champion of my heart.”
Indeed, the schmaltz is thick. Crowe’s Braddock is good, his opponents evil. While other men grow surly as the Depression leaves half of New Jersey without food, heat or electricity, Jimmy Braddock never gives up on the American dream. He’s the perfect father, Zellweger the perfect mother and wife.
This is no Million Dollar Baby, with its mid-script detour into real life. Cinderella Man is a boxing movie from start to finish. That means the boxing isn’t really boxing; it’s movie boxing, a la Rocky. The actor-fighters constantly throw haymakers and expose their jaws to them. The flurry sequences would leave Sugar Ray Robinson wheezing.
Plus, it costs too much to go to the movies, even to a Saturday matinee. Fourteen-fifty for popcorn and two soft drinks! Can you imagine?
But forget all that. If you can overlook a manipulative plot twist here and a half-baked subplot there, Cinderella Man is good old-fashioned Hollywood escapism. If you worry that this cynical age has destroyed the last shred of your sentimentality, Crowe, Zellweger and their raggamuffin kids will put the question to the test. If Jimmy Braddock doesn’t become the champion of your heart, well, what can I say?
My wife closed her eyes during the ring scenes, but she liked the other 90 percent of the movie a lot.
Two thumbs up.
Posted by Mike Pride at June 6, 2005 08:38 AM
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Comments
What memories..My husband was front and center for every "Friday Night Fights" on TV.He'd park himself in front of the old Zenith B&W, jumping up occasionally to adjust the contrast, the sound or whatever. No remotes in those days. The bell would clang and the brutal bashing (in the ring, that is ) would begin.
In fact, my two oldest children were born during that program, which must have really posed a dilemma for him. I did, however, get to the hospital with an hour to spare! Now he watches the classic reruns of nearly every sport, which I also think is pretty silly but then, how many times have I watched last year's winning World Series game? Go figure.
CC
Posted by: Carol Carson at June 6, 2005 11:42 AM
ESPN Classic has been a Godsend for fight fans. If you aren;t aware, the Casino Ballroom in Hampton is having ESPNs Friday Night Fights coming soon.
On an unrelated note, a co-worker asked me yesterday to ask why there are no Catholic church listings in the Monitor, but all other denominations are listed. I told him I'd ask, so...
Posted by: Billy D at June 7, 2005 09:41 AM
I think that if you're going to Blog and the Monitor is going to carry the link, you should put more thought into what you write about -- Boxing? Daniel Okrent? graduation day at UNH? C'mon man, if it's a personal diary you're lusting after go buy one... Ohtherwise, write about the things happening in Concord and surrounding towns that do not make it into the Monitor. Nobody cares about what you do when your wife nods off.
Posted by: Joe at June 7, 2005 06:35 PM