Million Dollar Baby And Cinderella Man Comparative Essay

English Communications - Comparative Assignment

Million Dollar baby and Cinderella Man

Cinderella Man directed by Ron Howard and Million Dollar Baby directed by Clint Eastwood are two films about two individuals viewed as underdogs by society and the world of boxing who overcome the odds and achieve personal goals. In these two heroic tales we follow the lives of two passionate and determined fighters. Like all heroic tales we encounter a hero, a villain and a final showdown portrayed as a fight of good and evil.

In every good heroic tale we have a hero, the face of good and a character one the audience can empathize with. In the film Million Dollar Baby Maggie Fitzgerald is the hero who shows courage, dedication and strength. In the film Cinderella Man we meet James J. Braddock, a man with similar characteristics as Maggie. Both characters show typical heroic trademarks in physical attributes and morals. It is the family life and the reason for fighting where these two humble characters differentiate. James, like Maggie, is an athlete. Both characters have a passion for boxing but it's what drives this passion that is different for James and Maggie. For James, supporting his family is his number one priority. His family is his support and they come before everything else, including himself. He shows this in two instances, giving his breakfast to his daughter Rosie and by promising he wouldn't send his kids away, "no matter what". Maggie on the other hand is self dependent, fighting for a personal dream. She tells Frankie, "If I'm too old for this then I've got nothing". It gives her pleasure to feel as though she is contributing to her family's wellbeing, by buying them a house, although her help isn't appreciated nor is it backed up by support. Whilst the Fitzgerald family is busy worrying about Maggie's inheritance instead of her health and happiness, James's family is the opposite, begging him not to fight Max Bare because he has killed two men, but at the same time offering him support. This is indicated when Mae goes to visit James in the locker room prior to his fight and tells him, "you can't win if you don't have me behind you". Both characters are determined and loyal. James shows determination and physical toughness by continuing to fight regardless of a serious injury. His loyalty is there for his family and his manager Joe. Maggie shows her determination though hours of long work at the Fit Pit. She also chooses to pay six months in advance on her gym membership even though she barely has enough money to feed herself at the time. Her loyalty is to one person, Frankie Dunn. She shows this by announcing to another manager that she will never leave Frankie, "Mr Mickey Mack. I hear you're a real good manager doing real good things for Big Willie. But I thought you should know, I aint never leaving Mr Dunn." The similarities link these two characters. The differences in the characters make a different story line but don't detract from their heroic characters.

Like a beach without sand, a hero wouldn't be a hero if they didn't encounter a villain. The directors Clint Eastwood and Ron Howard portray the villains similarly. In the film Cinderella Man an arrogant and selfish man known as Max Baer is presented as the villain. Million Dollar Baby shows a female villain, Billie Ostermann, who is portrayed in similar light. The directors have deliberately chosen specific colours, music, lighting and background information associated with the characters to ensure the audience doesn't empathize with the villain. Dark colours frame both villains in certain scenes of the films. In two occasions Max wears darker clothing than James, firstly in the restaurant where Max is dressed in black and James in gray and secondly in the ring looking at their boxing shorts. Like Max, Billie is also dressed in darker clothes than her opponent. Her entrance to the stage for the final fight also shows her emerging from a dark background with music playing that warns the audience of danger. Background information regarding the two villains contributes to their uneasy personalities. Baer is positioned as a murderer, the fact that he has killed two men in the ring suggests that he is not an easy opponent when it comes to boxing. Billie