ben_

a pirates life is not plotted out and loyalties change on a whim depending on the resulting 'take'.  i kind of liked the chaos of the storyline, riddled with funny asides and poking fun at our baser human characteristics.  very piratey.  i really liked the davey jones part of it since they introduced him, and his appearance made him only that much more interesting - not to mention the lovely musical lockets and the depth his sorrow over his unrequited love.  i hope they do make another... there's certainly plenty of mythology - nautical or otherwise - to go around and so far i think this has been a great vehicle for exploring them.  there's still plenty of potential and though they might not be exactly on the mark with each movie, pirates are not everyday fare - and i for one enjoy the voyages back into the mysterious tales that brought us words like 'leviathan' and 'calypso' and ideas like 'davey jones locker' and pirate codes. 

i had fun watching this one and finding the hidden footage made it  a challenge i couldn't resist.  a fun look at one of crowe's passions.  i shuffled the chapters to find the hidden footage - yeah i cheated - when the dvd first came out they gave out hints how to find them on their site - now i guess the dvd's have instructions on them.  footage from italy was some of the most fun to watch.

this one came so close to those things that scare me, freak me out - but even with the cool "ghoulies" it all got lost in the lack of a good storyline.  wishing they would not reveal so much of what the "ghoulies" look like - because the mind creates so much more than what the camera could ever convey - still, this one was pretty cool... i passed on the sequel.

Say what you want about Mel in the real world, he knows how to please the mind's eye.  I went to this one with a sigh of resignation - it was one of mel's so of course i would see it - and i expected it was going to be very much like some sort of documentary - SURPRISE SURPRISE!     the story had me from the opening scene through to the credits.  Bravo, mel. 

This movie came out against some heavy hitters when it opened in theaters, which is why I think it failed to make the box office numbers it deserved.  I'm not a boxing fan and wouldn't ordinarily see a movie about boxing, other than since Gladiator, I've been a devout Russell Crowe fan.  I was surprised.  Cinderella Man is more than just a movie about boxing.  Knowing this was based on a true story made the resiliency of Jim Braddock's spirit even more extraordinary.  Ron Howard brings us into the ring with Jim in some nifty ways and part of what really impressed me was how difficult it must have been to have heart and hold onto the strength of character it must take to endure and win in the ring.

The performances by everyone in the cast was fantastic, including the child actors.  My faith in Russell Crowe's ability to bring a character to life is unshaken.  His portrayal of Jim Braddock obscured Russell Crowe the man to become Jim: the father, the boxer, the inspiring human being who never forgot it was his responsibility to find happiness and security for his family and himself, and did so with admirable integrity.  Renee Zellweger and Russell played Jim and Mae Braddock so you believed in their devotion to each other and their family and friends.  Paul Giamatti played Jim's manager/friend with charismatic strength that matched that of the awesome Mr. Crowe.  Craig Bierko deserves a nod as well for making his controversial portrayal of Max Baer so large as life, as to make real the fears felt for Jim when his moment came to face this fierce fighter in the ring.

 Throughout the movie the cinema audience groaned with sympathy, urged Jim on during the fights - and best of all the entire theater gave the movie a standing ovation at the very end.  I thought for sure it would come out at the top of the box office.  Maybe the name "Cinderella" put some off, or maybe with the recent passage of Million Dollar Baby through theaters people felt they'd already had their fill of boxing movies, or maybe those other heavy hitters watered things down - people only having enough in entertainment budgets to see just  a few select movies - because really, this one should have been a blockbuster.