10. “Cinderella Man” (2005)
By the time the 21st century rolled in, audiences had seen enough terrible-to-average boxing films to be hyper-aware of all the categories, critiques, and cliches that can plague the sub-genre, and were perhaps over-ready to pounce. Take Ron Howard‘s “Cinderella Man” and the beating it got in the theaters. Audiences seemed genuinely allergic to the critically well-received film that still stands as one of Russell Crowe’s most genuinely heart-warming performances. As such, in a way one can label it one of the genre’s great underdog pictures. Helmed with Howard’s solid if cliched stylings, the story of James J. Braddock is gorgeously rendered through the work of DP Salvatore Totino, and Thomas Newman‘s soulful score. Scarcely breaking the traditional mold cemented for all time by “Rocky,” Howard and Crowe tug at the heartstrings, but don’t overly telegraph their punches. And the strong supporting performances by Renée Zellweger, Paul Giamatti (snubbed for a second time in two years at the Oscars), and a career-best Craig Bierko as Braddock’s boorish but charming opponent, Max Baer, bring the quality through the line. Sure, “Cinderella Man” plays out like a feature-length amalgamation of other, more original boxing flicks, but see it as an ode to those films and its more positive attributes shine through.
9. “Ali” (2001)
Michael Mann followed up one of the best films of his career, “The Insider,” with the highly anticipated biopic of the most famous boxer our world has ever known, though opinions vary as to whether he really managed to truly grasp Muhammad Ali‘s unparalleled persona. The film never became the Oscar magnet it was set up to be, and ended up dividing both critics and audiences, which leaves the consensus to suggest it ranks as a middling Mann affair. And sure, it is overlong and overly ambitious in attempting to encompass so much inside and outside the ring, and so much inside and outside the personality of this extraordinary man. But when it works, it floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee, so much due to Mann’s intelligence and also to Will Smith, who more than anyone manages to carry the project’s ambitions through all the way to the end, delivering what’s easily his best role to date. He’s so tremendous, in fact, that five minutes in he already accomplishes something he’s been unable to replicate ever since; make the audience forget all about Will Smith, the celebrity actor. Then there’s the stunning opening sequence set to Sam Cooke‘s “Bring It On Home To Me,” one of the best things Mann’s ever shot. Despite its flaws, “Ali” is still an uncharacteristically warm and vibrant film from the often chilly director, and the greatest showcase for the electrifying Smith we’ve seen so little of before or since.
8. “The Set-Up” (1949)
The same year as the more famous Kirk Douglas boxing picture “Champion,” Robert Wise directed this condensed, unsung, and much more compelling story. Robert Ryan stars as Stoker, a man “always one punch away” from winning, but he’s been on such a cooler of late, his own manager Tiny (George Tobias) assures the local gangsters that he’ll go down in the second round of his next match without even prepping Stoker for it. Things get complicated and incredibly intense when our downtrodden fighter becomes determined to beat his next opponent, no matter what. What makes “The Set-Up” such a fantastic boxing film is that it manages to be both about the action in the ring and an emotional portrayal of a loving relationship, all in a super-economical 72 minutes. Here we have one of the most rounded and grounded boxing stories, told in incredibly effective, ridiculously immersive, real time. Whether it’s inside the sweat-stained locker rooms, ringside with managers chewing their faces off, or in the zoo-like atmosphere of a fight-frenzied general public, Wise’s camera pans, zooms, glides, and cuts its way around the milieu in splendidly efficient fashion. Milton Krasner’s cinematography (that bagged him an award in Cannes) glosses the entire picture in stunning film noir aesthetics, while Ryan’s central performance is nuanced and far ahead of its time.
7. “Million Dollar Baby” (2004)
If you’ve somehow made it this far without finding out the second half twist to Clint Eastwood‘s “Million Dollar Baby,” stop reading and go rent the damn thing because here be spoilers. The film marked the second on-screen pairing of Eastwood and Morgan Freeman, and their first since the acclaimed “Unforgiven.” Stirring the anticipation pot was the young Oscar winner Hilary Swank, and an exciting premise; Eastwood plays Frankie Dunn, a grizzled boxing trainer who is hounded by Swank’s Maggie, a not-so-fresh face from the Ozarks who wants to be trained. Frankie is reluctant on two counts: she’s a woman and she’s 32, rather too ripe an age to be climbing into the ring. But pretty soon she’s boxing professionally, until tragedy strikes and Maggie is left a quadriplegic. Never has a boxing film taken such an abrupt turn in its halfway mark, when, just like that, an underdog boxing story becomes a euthanasia tale. Eastwood and screenwriter Paul Haggis do their best to make the transition smooth, but it’s nevertheless distractingly abrupt, startling and manipulative. But the performances sell it and the film — as much as it is about euthanasia — becomes really about the unbreakable bond forged in sports between trainer and athlete. It’s wrenching, powerful stuff and, full credit to Eastwood, the final decision isn’t played for politics, but for the heart, and damn if it doesn’t land a punch there.
6. “The Fighter” (2010)
We’ve yet to see how successful the current crop of boxing films will turn out to be, especially with hindsight but one thing’s for sure: one of the first boxing films they tend to be compared to is the last great one, David O. Russell‘s “The Fighter.” Russell’s penchant for directing actors to critical glory is cemented in this one, but it’s ironic that of the four actors nominated for an Oscar none of them are the boxer himself, Mark Wahlberg‘s quiet welterweight Micky Ward. Managed by his chain-smoking mother Alice (Melissa Leo, Oscar!), trained by his crackhead brother Dicky (Christian Bale, Oscar!), and supported by a gamut of sisters and a token love interest, Charlene (Amy Adams), Micky reaches a point where he must choose his profession over his own family, who turn up to be more of a detriment. When it comes to family bonds and boxing films, it doesn’t get much grittier than “The Fighter,” certainly not in recent times. With a cracker of a screenplay full of comedic highlights, Russell’s entertaining and energetic flow, and a jaw-dropping performance by Bale, this true story is realized with plenty of sizzle and lots of heart to spare.