an ordinary blog — andr3.net

It's been a while since i wrote about any movie, but i promise i'll try to keep it short. If you think these reviews are too long, let me know, I don't want to bore you to death, now do I?

Ron Howard and Russell Crowe meet again and produce another good movie together. This one tells the story of James Braddock, a legend in boxing who lived through the big Depression of the 30s under great difficulties and ended up restoring the hope of many fellow Americans. Russel plays James and shares the screen with Renée Zellweger, who plays the wife. Paul Giamatti concludes the holy trinity of the cast as James' agent.

I loved the feel of the movie, which even the typography used to state the date or the fight we were about to witness had a distinctive 30's feel. Nothing seemed out of place and it's a very consistent screenplay. Some scenes might be a bit too violent, but this is a movie about boxing, with all the blood and sweat that comes with it. A mention is in order for the cinematography department as well, which was above average.

As far as scenic performances go, i will highlight one and only one. Despite what you might be expecting, i wouldn't be fair to what i saw if i didn't highlighted the compelling performance that Paul Giamatti delivers through this character. Subtle at times, but overwhelming at others, it never ceases to be very intense. I'm not saying Russell Crowe wasn't good enough, because after all, he was the centre of the movie and supported it very well, but to all fairness, i have to pick out Paul amongst the rest. Even Ren̩e wasn't as good as i expected her to be. Therefore, he РPaul Giamatti Рgoes down as one of my early selections for Рat least Рthe Oscar nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. He has been deserving the golden statue ever since American Splendor and even more after Sideways. This time around, it's Giamatti's time!

Despite all this, throughout the movie I kept feeling it was lingering on. It's probably longer that it should be; some scenes should have been deleted. When you add that to the predictability of it all, the movie starts to loose points off the rating. Comparing to last year's Million Dollar Baby, i feel this was more raw than the Clint Eastwood's movie, which was more about people inside the world of boxing than boxing itself.