Like backstage musicals & courtroom dramas, boxing bios always work on some level, but CINDERELLA’s emotional tropes haven’t been reinvigorated; it’s like repackaging a used box of Kleenex. Using the Great Depression as dramatic enabler is the idea, but the film has all the verisimilitude of THE STING. Russell Crowe is effective, especially at low ebb, but Renee Zellweger is all thumbs as the worried/supportive little wife. Paul Giamatti got overpraised for his Richard Dreyfus turn as manager/trainer, when the real standout perf came from Craig Bierko, giving human interest to the script’s villainous take on Max Baer. And Ron Howard, stolidest of directors, takes his penchant for pandering multiple reaction shots (used like a laugh track on a humorless sit-com) to new heights (depths?) during the final fight.
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