CS Daily Archive > Weekend Read > 6/03/05

Something Worth Fighting For

By david michael wharton

By focusing as much of its time outside the ring as in, Cliff Hollingsworth and Akiva Goldsman's account of legendary Depression-era boxer Jim Braddock becomes more than just another boxing movie, but a snapshot of one of our nation's darkest hours, and one man's sacrifices made to survive it..

Cinderella Man

Story by Cliff Hollingsworth
Screenplay by Cliff Hollingsworth and Akiva Goldsman

In the early 1930s, boxer Jim Braddock is on top of the world. He has money, fame, and a loving family that he cherishes. But Braddock's fate is about to suffer a terrible fall. As the Depression crushes America beneath its heel, Braddock takes fights he shouldn't in order to make ends meet, binding broken bones just long enough to make it to the last round and the paycheck. Even Braddock's determination can't forever override a body worn beyond its capacity, and he is forced out of the sport. With work scant and circumstances increasingly desperate, Braddock is given one last chance to make a comeback and save his family, with his life on the line against a brutal boxer known for killing two men in the ring.

The uphill struggle any sports movie faces is that the audience probably knows from the get-go how the movie will end. The path leading to the finale may vary, but with a few exceptions (Million Dollar Baby springs to mind), the sports tale aims to bring both audience and protagonist through trials and tribulations to the catharsis of victory. This problem is only compounded when your script is based on a true story. How can the writer maintain tension when the end of the story is as close as a Google search?

The solution is to focus on character, to clearly define what is at stake for the protagonist. As with last year's Miracle, Cinderella Man relies on the fact that while many people may know about the events it chronicles, few know the story underneath those events. While there are several intense scenes in the ring, the meat of the script is focused on the Braddock household. From his willingness to work the docks even while nursing a broken arm, to the simple act of sacrificing a meal, Braddock continually demonstrates the lengths to which he will go to preserve his family.

If the art of drama consists of getting your characters up a tree and then throwing rocks at them, Cinderella Man does both, and then sets the tree on fire. The script systematically strips Braddock of everything but that simple love of his family. Opening with a brief scene showing Braddock living the high life, it quickly transitions to the depths of the Depression. Braddock has lost his health and his wealth, and before act three rolls around, he has lost even his faith and his dignity. He becomes symbolic of the throngs of Americans the Depression left with nothing but the hope that things might get better. When Braddock finally gets his second chance, the country looks on in earnest hope that the fighter might find the fairy-tale ending his nickname implies: that if he can make a comeback, maybe they all can. It's a theme that resonates regardless of what year the calendar reads, and that timelessness ensures that we are all of us up in that ring right alongside Jimmy Braddock.

With its focus squarely on the man behind the gloves and the family behind the man, Cinderella Man is a grueling, intense, and ultimately enthralling K.O. that will surely be earning some Golden Gloves when Oscar season rolls around.

Cinderella Man
Universal Pictures
Rated PG-13; 144 min.

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When not slaving away in the salt mines as editor of CS Weekly, David Michael Wharton somehow finds the time to write "TV Wasteland" for Cinescape and "Son of a Pitch" for CS Weekly. He hangs his hat in Texas, where he is, of course, working on a screenplay.
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