With boorish predictability, critics lash out at Hollywood remakes, citing each reworked project as evidence that the studios drink from a creative well that has long run dry. Yet the history of the human condition has always included artists inspired by other artists. It is likely that in some ancient cave a man etched a cow on the granite wall, prompting another man to do the same - but adding full udders to give the scene poetic resonance. When a third man came along and etched a lusty bull, a gallery was born and somebody else was inspired to invent the hors d'oeuvre so that the artists could have an opening and meet chicks. Thus, when a modern filmmaker scrapes the cinematic patina off of a beloved classic, we owe it to ourselves to approach the new film with an open mind and a hearty "what have we here?"
What we have with Cinderella Man, Ron Howard's remake of the Jerry Lewis classic Cinderfella, is a vibrant mix of comedy and pathos. Russell Crowe digs dip into his acting bag of tricks to portray Cinderfella, a harried scullery maid with big dreams but little promise of a better life. Crowe brings a stylized sense of melancholy to the role and it works perfectly. Though not as madcap as Lewis was in the original, he still manages to let fly the occasional “Hey, Laaaady” with a surprisingly shrill vibrato.
Paul Giamatti brings an eerie presence to the role of Cinderfella's Fairy Godfather. While he grants all of the boilerplate wishes (new threads, a pimp ride, the chance to meet a sexually repressed Princess), there is a constant glint in his eye that says “Be careful what you wish for, sap.” Indeed, Giamatti's performance provides the ideal counterpoint to what for centuries has been a spurious fairytale with a bogus message.
And the bogus prize is Renee Zellweger as Princess Charmant. She captures Cinderfella using the illusions women have used for centuries: spackled skin made perfect by layers of make-up, breasts cinched to a high and full prominence, perfumed body and breath, and a demure glance that conceals all of the treachery in the female heart. Director Howard presents one of the great denouements in film history when the camera pulls back to reveal the couple in post-lovemaking embrace. A satisfied Princess clings to Cinderfella, who glances first to his watch, then to the perspiring lump attached to him, and finally directly into the camera as waves of terror roll across his face. Crowe plays this as brilliantly as anyone could save for Kenny Chesney.
There is no question that Cinderella Man will generate early Oscar buzz. And it should. This is more than just a summer movie, it is a movie for our time and for all time. In the real world the clock strikes twelve every night.
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