The film Cinderella Man by director Ron Howard is the story of James Braddock, a lightweight boxer with an exceptional lifestyle and a family who is struck by depression. When the stock market crashes, his lifestyle, and that of millions of other people, changes dramatically for the worse. Now, when he can, he works for doctors moving freight and other goods to earn enough money for his family to afford food, heat and electricity. However, given a second chance to box again, he manages to persevere and go against all odds to become an important figure for the average man during the Great Depression. Through this film we see how the economic and social conditions of the depression worsened, how James and Mae were affected by the depression, and what kind of characteristics James and Mae had to have in order to endure and overcome their economic difficulties. The social and economic times of the Depression reached an all-time low and continued to worsen. People were losing their homes and all their belongings, which completely changed their lives. This led people to do anything to satisfy their family or themselves. There was a lack of work, people drank, stole and hard times created tension between family members. All of this was shown in the film when we see Howard stealing food so as not to send it elsewhere, or when Mike Wilson is seen drunk and arguing with his wife. We see unemployment through many people like James, Mike and even in Joe. Family tensions are seen with James and Mae with their fights over James' boxing or with Mike and his wife when he is drunk. These were all factors that contributed to the miserable lives of the people and the gen......middle of paper......e of this struggle. James puts his life in danger by going against Max because he realizes what he stands for, he represents the common man and fights for all the people suffering from the Depression. The Depression affected American industry but actually hurt the common man. Families like the Braddocks and the Wilsons were left with nothing and forced to start their lives over. The depression worsened and ruined people's lives. James and Mae were one of those couples who had to endure difficult times and it was their special traits and characteristics that got them through. So the term Cinderella is very appropriate because he had nothing and managed to get to the top and beat all odds. Ultimately I think this film and this moment can be summed up in a quote by James Braddock: “I have to believe that when things go wrong, I can change them”..”