Every day, AlloCiné recommends a film to (re)watch on TV. Tonight: a punchy film by Ron Howard.
Four years after directing him in An Exceptional Man, director Ron Howard reunites with comedian Russell Crowe in From the shadow to the lighta biopic retracing the true story, close to a fairy tale, of Jim Braddock, who became world heavyweight boxing champion when he had just resumed his career to feed his family during the Great Depression.
Nourished by an intimate and personal approach thanks to the collaboration of Jim Braddock’s two sons, the screenplay is all the more poignant. Thanks to an enormous work of reconstruction and a guideline avoiding any overbidding, Ron Howard gives the film, and in particular the sequences taking place in the ring, maximum authenticity.
Finally, Russell Crowe, nominated in the Best Actor category at the SAG and at the Golden Globes, indeed delivers a breathtaking performance. Devoted to the incarnation of his character, he carried out a long work of documentation, as well as a very demanding sports training program (to the point that he dislocated his shoulder and delayed the production of 7 weeks), supervised by Angelo Dundee, former coach of Mohamed Ali, who himself had the opportunity to see Jim Braddock fight.
Special mention, too, to Craig Bierko who offers here a performance of a killer juggernaut, with the false air of Nicolas Cage, which would have made many of his opponents shudder.
From Shadow to Light by Ron Howard with Russell Crowe, Renée Zellweger, Paul Giamatti…
From 10 years old
Tonight on Arte at 8:55 p.m.
