Howard's movie skillfully delivers that primal, heart-pounding satisfaction that is the promise of all boxing tales.

| Nov 1, 2007

As for the fights themselves, Howard brings nothing new to the canvas. Like the movie as a whole, they work fine enough, even while encased in leaden certitude.

| Aug 17, 2007

The fight scenes have a stinging authenticity and, although at 144 minutes it outstays its welcome, this is Howard's best film since Apollo 13

| Jun 24, 2006

The Best Actor Oscar race starts now.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 7, 2006

A superficially rousing portrait of Depression-era legend James J. Braddock.

Full Review | Sep 26, 2005

The joy is in the playing, and Ron Howard pulls out all the stops like the organist at the old Madison Square Garden.

| Sep 14, 2005

Crowe is at his best in the ring and while it's hardly surprising that he's a convincing bruiser, he also manages to make a rather one-note character compelling.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 16, 2005

The storytelling is fluid and gripping.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 11, 2005

Just an O.K. vintage fight movie.

| Jun 9, 2005

The thing that ultimately makes it a classic in the pantheon of American movies is the way it reveals something about the idealism, strength, grace and grit of the American Dream.

Full Review | Jun 7, 2005

Ron Howard and Russell Crowe have once again combined their efforts to create a big Hollywood biopic that exudes the strong whiff of Oscar bait.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jun 5, 2005

Howard unleashes one of his best directorial jobs to date, refusing to slobber on either syrup or sentimentality as the picture progresses. Everything here feels honest and genuine; the movie lived-in to the point of having to pay rent.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 4, 2005

Cinderella Man wants to be a rousing crowd-pleaser and it probably is, even if Howard has to keeping shouting at the audience to know when to be pleased and aroused.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 4, 2005

Cinderella Man is a movie about the indomitability of the American spirit, and those are always far less interesting than movies about actual people.

Full Review | Jun 3, 2005

Cinderella Man bids for audience approval at every turn.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jun 3, 2005

Howard has got but a single message to deliver here -- boxer Braddock as the populist American hero of the Depression era - and he beats us over the head with his uplifting haymaker until we're crumbled on the canvas and crying for mercy.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jun 3, 2005

We're in an almost irony-free zone, where everything is exactly as it seems, and no subtexts are available for subtext-fanatics.

| Jun 3, 2005

Ron Howard's Depression-era ode to second chances and noble contests, filmed here last summer, is not just another boxing movie or just another picture. It's a completely absorbing and artfully made fairy tale that just so happens to be true.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Jun 3, 2005

Easily the best American film so far this year.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Jun 3, 2005

Pardon its dust, and you'll be rewarded with a moving story of a time gone by, and of an unexpected hero.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 3, 2005