Blood, Sweat and Tears

As a rule, the only thing I enjoy about boxing is the fact that it is also called "pugilism," which is more fun to say and hear and spell than most other words.

Seriously, boxing is a sport where two men -- and even women, nowadays, which I fail to understand -- are paid to beat each other until: A.) one of them, resembling pre-cooked meat, is rendered horizontal and motionless, or B.) both resemble pre-cooked meat, but only one is chosen as victor by judges with unbroken noses, wearing nice outfits unsullied by their own various bodily fluids. My astonishment at the fact that these men are paid to pound on each other is matched only by my astonishment that other people pay to watch this happen.

But I just saw Russell Crowe's new movie Cinderella Man, which is the story of Depression-era boxer James J. Braddock, and I was enthralled. Not only is it a well-told (true!) story with a good script and strong performances -- even by Renee "SquintyPucker" Zellweger, who generally makes me twitch -- it is a film with good moral messages and positive, uplifting portrayals of marriage and family. Humility. Honesty. Courage. Risk-taking. Hope. Strength of character. This is a film about men doing what they have to do and women doing their best to support and enable the men's efforts.

The reason I've seen it presumably before any of you is that I went to the world premiere at Universal Citywalk. Brian Grazer, one of the producers of the film, is a huge supporter of the Best Buddies program; the $250-per-ticket afterparty was actually a charity benefit. Denise and I were one of the few "buddy pairs" who were specially invited.

And weren't we a sight, intermingled with the eternally youthful and fabulous of Hollywood, standing there all normal-bodied in our khaki pants and matching t-shirts!

Some highlights:

• We were the first group to walk the red carpet, on our way to take our posts at the theater doors in order to hand out flyers and freebies to the moviegoers. People cheered us, so we smiled and waved. Denise, who is too cool for school, muttered, "I don't wave. I will look, but I don't wave." (She'd have waved herself into unconsciousness if Jackie Chan or Steven Seagal had been there, though, I can tell you that.)

• Before the movie, I recognized the Ron Howard trifecta of Marion Ross, Penny Marshall, and M. Night Shyamalamadingdong, as well as a few people whose faces looked familiar in that I-know-you're-somebody-but-you-look-too-3D-right-now-for-me-to-get-it sort of way.

• Just before the movie, we actually got free popcorn and sodas. Seriously. FREE. Denise was very excited about this.

• During the movie, the excellent Paul Giamatti at one point actually said the word "pugilism." I was very excited about this.

• After the movie came the photo ops. No, the photographer wasn't able to corral any of the movie stars, but we had some lovely pics snapped of the group of us with such notables as Brian Grazer, Best Buddies founder Anthony Shriver, and Frankensteinish motivational speaker Tony Robbins.

• We got to keep our "all access" passes, movie tickets and afterparty invitations. You know -- for the scrapbook, next to the picture of Tony Robbins.

• Denise and I walked the red carpet again in reverse, on the way back to the parking structure. It's surprisingly soft when you're barefoot. I've now made contact with whatever was on the bottom of thousands of famous people's designer shoes.

Not too shabby, as evenings go.

Please go see the movie. I'll tell you this: I've been to cast & crew screenings and premieres before. You know the film is good when the jaded Hollywood-types are cheering -- not for the cool and expensive visual effects sequence, or for some bigshot's name in the opening credits, but for the desperate man with the bloody face who's taking the punches for his kids.