Howard's movie skillfully delivers that primal, heart-pounding satisfaction that is the promise of all boxing tales.

As for the fights themselves, Howard brings nothing new to the canvas. Like the movie as a whole, they work fine enough, even while encased in leaden certitude.

The fight scenes have a stinging authenticity and, although at 144 minutes it outstays its welcome, this is Howard's best film since Apollo 13

No filmmaker in his right mind would want his boxing picture released a scant few months after Million Dollar Baby, but Cinderella Man is so structurally and tonally different that it might as well be about jai alai.