Trailer
Plot summary
James J. Braddock, formerly a light heavyweight contender from New Jersey, breaks his hand in the ring and has to quit boxing. His wife, Mae, finds the violence of the sport unbearable to watch, yet she knows the family cannot get by without the income it brings. When the Great Depression settles over the country, Braddock takes work as a longshoreman, though the docks do not offer him a job every day. The household stretches what little it has, watering down the milk so it lasts longer. Then another fighter cancels, and Joe Gould, Braddock's manager for years and a friend, hands him the chance to fill in for a single night against the world's number-two contender. Mae objects, but Braddock accepts.
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Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Cinderella Man (2005)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- After Cinderella Man opened to disappointing numbers, AMC Theatres tried to boost sales in about 150 theaters by publicly promising a refund to any dissatisfied ticket-buyer, a promotion that drew at least 50 refund requests.
- In his 2018 "divorce auction", Russell Crowe sold props he owned from his films, including the jockstrap, shorts and robe he wore in Cinderella Man. HBO's Last Week Tonight with John Oliver bought them, the jockstrap alone going for $7,000, and donated them to the last operating Blockbuster Video store in Alaska.
- Max Baer, the fighter Braddock was up against, had reportedly killed two men in the ring, Frankie Campbell and Ernie Schaaf; in the film the promoter James Johnston makes Braddock and Gould watch footage of Baer just so he can say later that he warned them.
- Nineteen-thirties New York was recreated in Toronto: the Richmond Street side of The Bay's Queen Street store was dressed as Madison Square Garden, complete with fake store fronts and period stop lights, and Maple Leaf Gardens was used for all the fight scenes.
SPOILER
After later losing his title to Joe Louis, James Braddock earned praise from the new champion, who called him "the most courageous man I ever fought."
