CORPORATE LINE: Released a little over a year after the grand success of his Oscar-winning feature MYSTIC RIVER, Clint Eastwood returns to the director’s chair for MILLION DOLLAR BABY. Eastwood also stars, in the role of Frankie Dunn, a down-on-his-luck former boxing manager who spends the twilight years of his life running a small, dilapidated gym in downtown Los Angeles. Frankie’s previous career was blighted by an injury to one of his prize fighters, Scrap (Morgan Freeman), who lost the sight in his right eye during a particularly brutal bout; Scrap now wiles away the hours working as a cleaner in Frankie’s gym. Wary of similar occurrences being inflicted on the prestigious young talent that passes before him, Frankie lets a succession of great boxers slip through his fingers. But when the brash, confident young boxer Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank) strides into the gym, Frankie’s life is irretrievably altered. Initially refusing to train Maggie due to her gender and age, Frankie relents when faced with her tenacity, spirit, and burning ambition. The combination of Maggie’s talent and Frankie’s tutelage paves the way for the adroit fighter to rise steadily through the ranks of women’s boxing, with the unlikely coupling forming a genuinely touching bond in the process.
THE FILM: When I screened this film there was no expectations. Sure it had a good cast and Clint Eastwood was directing but it seemed that the film didn’t get much love before it was released. So without it seemed little expectations for the film thus little expectations for me.
Then I saw the film. Million Dollar Baby is the kind of film you see and walk out already giving the Oscars to individuals like Hilary Swank and Clint Eastwood. Million Dollar Baby is that good.
Million Dollar Baby sits with you long after viewing it. It stirs you up and then doesn’t just spit you out—it barely lets you forget what it meant to you. I won’t give away the ending or anything else—but it doesn’t pretend life is going to have a big beautiful rainbow around each turn. Even without the happy ending it’s a great film.
FRANKLY: Million Dollar Baby is Clint Eastwood’s masterpiece. Hilary Swank also proves that she belongs among the elite actresses in Hollywood. Million Dollar Baby is a must own.
+ Charlie Craine
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