I think that I’ve seen Cinderella Man before. A friend thinks that I’ve seen Cinderella Man before. Then why do I have no memory of it? Ron Howard directed it. Howard has sucked from the breast of mainstream Hollywood since he was boy. Howard’s success depends on doing nothing spectacular and remaining stalwartly mediocre and inoffensive, but on second viewing, his politics began to show. Howard aims for the old school films of classic Hollywood without the desire to keep business (It’s a Wonderful Life) or government (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington) accountable for the role they play in making people’s lives more difficult. Instead of a straight biopic, James Braddock plays the voice of “What are you going to do?” as if poverty was a force of nature to be weathered instead of fixed. He doesn’t rail or fight against correcting flawed systems. I actually don’t have a problem with Braddock being depicted as a pure fighter and family man who had the same struggles during the Great Depression as his less famous counterparts and may not have reflected on the larger forces responsible for his plight, but by introducing a protesting union member character foil who is portrayed as a drunk, a bad husband and Braddock’s friend, Cinderella Man gives Braddock an opportunity to become political by suggesting that fighting against greater forces equals death and not questioning how one ended up in poverty despite working hard and uncritically upholding those institutions is the way that one succeeds. It creates a false dichotomy where there wasn’t one historically. Howard is a sly one, but apparently audiences did not buy his product….THIS time. Crowe and Giamatti did a great job as always, but the idea that Crowe would be afraid of Craig Bierko was a bit ridiculous. I was unaware of Bierko’s real life character’s history, but now that I am, the unnecessary and inaccurate depiction of Max Baer as a crude, offensive, menacing, he’s coming for your women and will kill your men (hopefully) unintentionally references anti-Semitic tropes such as Der ewige Jude and Jud Süß. The film does not explicitly say that Baer is Jewish, but in retrospect, knowing that he was, there is another false dichotomy present-the perfect Christian family man Braddock versus the hedonistic, barbaric, uncivilized Baer. I was initially moved by the entire church praying for Braddock’s safety, but knowing that Baer was depicted inaccurately and was a famous Jewish athlete makes me recoil at even the (hopefully) accidental suggestion of a more insidious historical religious war that has no place even existing. Initially Cinderella Man seems like a forgettable wannabe epic bio pic, but on closer examination, it is far more insidious.