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Cinderella Man

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Table of Contents

Introduction............................................................................................................................3

Description.............................................................................................................................3

Audience ................................................................................................................................4

Conclusion .............................................................................................................................4

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Outline

I. Introduction

II. Historical Reference

A. Hoover Ville

B. Real Scenes

C. Influence in the movie

III. Conclusion

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Junsung Kim

Mr. Barantovich

Movie essay

10 August 2011

Cinderella Man

Introduction

The film, Cinderella Man, tells a tale of the existence of James J. Braddock, a boxing

heavyweight winner at some stage in the 1920’s and the Great Depression. The movie

illustrates the struggle of Braddock and his family during the time of the depression and how

with the help of his manager, Joe Gould, rises up again to become the heavyweight

champion. As he struggles for money and food during this time and goes to docks to earn

wages, he earns the nickname “ Cinderella Man” in the boxing ring to represent the American

people’s struggle and hopes during the dark economic times. Cinderella Man is a 2005

American drama film by Ron Howard, and it is titled after the nickname of heavyweight

boxing champion James J. Braddock and inspired by his life story. Howard, Penny Marshall,

and Brian Grazer produced the film. (Wiki 2005)

Description

As a movie based on a true story, Cinderella Man accurately depicts the struggles of

America during the Great Depression. One example the audience sees is Hoovervilles. In the

movie, as Braddock goes searching for his friend Mike in a Hooverville in Central Park, New

York City, an accurate scene of the corruption of Hoovervilles illustrates the horrific living

conditions of those areas. In the short clip, we see pollution, people throwing up, men

fighting, etc. which portrays how much the people struggled to survive during the Great

Depression. Another example of how the movie relates to the real- life Great Depression are

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Comment: Show  how  the  movie  illustrates  it  more  explicitly.  

Comment: Explain  why  he  struggled.  

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the scenes where Braddock goes to the docks to in attempt to be chosen for work. In the

scene, dozens of men crowd in a hope to be picked to earn money. Out of those many dozens,

the owners only choose about ten of them to work on the docks to earn a few dollars. This

scene exemplifies how desperate men were in search for work to support their family and

themselves. A third example of the movie’s accuracy on the Depression is the ways that the

Braddock’s family stays together and fights to support each other. In the movie, Braddock

never ditches his children or his wife to find new opportunities. Their family represents the

many families that stuck together through tough economic times and how many parents

wouldn’t give up on their children.

Audience

Other than the accurate historical references in the movie, Cinderella Man also

engages the audience greatly in the message that it portrays. The music in the film creates a

mood of sadness yet still some hope in it. This illustrates the perseverance of people like

Braddock during the Great Depression. The lighting in the movie is very dark and rarely

shows light. This gives us the concept that the times of the depression did not have many

bright moments for people as they continually had to search for new ways of living.

However, even though the Great Depression was the greatest economic struggle in American

history, the movie shows how people found ways to survive the depression and inspire other

Americans to fight the good fight.

Conclusion

The movie, Cinderella Man, is a very moving and touching film about a boxer named

James J. Braddock, who gave many Americans the inspiration to persevere during the Great

Depression. I felt that the movie was very touching and I felt greatly inspired by it. The

movie gave me a clearer perspective of the horrific conditions of Americans during the Great

Depression and what exactly it was like to be living during that time. The movie definitely

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grabbed my attention with the intensity of the fights and the drama that builds up to

Braddock’s final fight against Max Baer. Overall, the Cinderella Man gave me chills

throughout the film as it clearly depicts cinthe major points of the Great Depression.

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References

Ron Howard, Russell Crowe, Renee Zellwegar, Craig Bierko (2005) Cinderella Man,

Universal Studio, USA, DTS, Dolby Digital, SDDS