:
Clint Eastwood,
Clint Eastwood,
Hilary Swank,
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Clint Eastwood,
Clint Eastwood
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: Warner Home Video
: Drama, Sports Drama, Sports, Sports Drama
: English, French
: English, Spanish, French
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Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood) is a veteran boxing trainer who has devoted his life to the ring and has precious little to show for it; his daughter never answers his letters, and a fighter he's groomed into contender status has paid him back by signing with another manager, leaving Frankie high and dry. His best friend and faithful employee Eddie Dupris is a former fighter who Frankie trained. In his last fight, Eddie suffered a severe injury, a fact that brings Frankie great guilt. One day, Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank) enters Frankie's life, as well as his gym, and announces she needs a trainer. Frankie regards her as a dubious prospect, and isn't afraid to tell her why: he doesn't think much of women boxing, she's too old at 31, she lacks experience, and has no technique. However, Maggie sees boxing as the one part of her life that gives her meaning and won't give up easily. Finally won over by her determination, Frankie takes on Maggie, and as she slowly grows into a viable fighter, an emotional bond develops between them. When a tragedy befalls one of the three characters, each comes to a decision that shows how the relationships in the film have changed them. Adapted from a short story by F.X. Toole, a former corner man with years of experience in the fight game, Million Dollar Baby also stars Morgan Freeman, Anthony Mackie, and Mike Colter. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
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| "She didn't ask God for help, she asked me."
by SBarnett
November 2, 2006 - 1:21 PM PST
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| In a career noted for memorable lines, this one from "Million Dollar Baby" is Clint Eastwood's best. It sums up the foundation of the film: a passionate and clear-eyed search for the answer to the questions, What is our relation to God? What is our relation to each other? The answers we get at the end of the film show a truly optimistic, unbreakable humanism. The film combines the lyrical austerity and radiance of Yeats' poetry with the timing and rhythm of boxing to create rich atmosphere and engrossing drama. Ignore the opinions of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as irrelevant and watch Hilary Swank just take over every scene, listen to the perfect intonation in Morgan Freeman's voice, and feel Eastwood grow old in the space between frames. The only weakness in the film is the music, which at times overpowers or underwhelms. This outstanding film is another indication that Eastwood keeps getting better and better. |
| Wasn't worthy of the Oscar
by juliemiller1
October 2, 2005 - 10:29 AM PDT
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4 out of 5 members found this review helpful
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| It was an okay movie, but definitely a run of the mill bad-guy-redeems-himself-by-opening-up-his-eyes-to new-opportunities. This is one of those movies that you see, and realize that you've seen previous reincarnations too many times over. The acting was good, but nothing special. And the plot had more than a few holes in it. |
| Would you believe $100,000?
by talltale
July 5, 2005 - 9:27 AM PDT
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8 out of 9 members found this review helpful
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My reaction to MILLION DOLLAR BABY no doubt stems from its receipt of this year's Academy Award for Best Picture. This was a shocking choice and one that may elicit hoots of derision from many viewers a decade or more down the road. The film is certainly not bad, but it is run-of-the-mill in many regards. From the insistent and overdrawn narration that Morgan Freeman must drone from beginning to end (with the usual nonsense, mixed with some intelligence, regarding boxing as a sport/art) to Eastwood's typical perception of human beings as either the good guys or the bad guys (the amazingly stupid and nasty family of the Swank character, who are, of course, welfare cheats, in addition to all their other disgusting qualities--talk about seeing the world in black and white!), the movie is ham-fisted at the very times that some subtlety would work wonders.
Logic is on vacation here, too. Would the boxer's family, so intent on getting a signature that gives them control over all the money, waste a week doing the Universal and Disneyland tours before even attempting to get that signature? Perhaps the worst offsense is the sentimentality that runs rampant. The "Danger" character, his "fight" and his eventual "return" should be enough to gag even the four-hankie crowd. I could go on.
The point is that way too many of our "better" critics seem unable to control a knee-jerk genuflection when it comes to old-timers like Eastwood and Scorsese. Both "The Aviator" and "Million Dollar Baby" are mediocre movies with some fine moments, decent acting and stories that maintain interest (in both cases, only up to a point). They offer no ideas to shake us or make us think. Compared to "The Motorcycle Diaries" or "The Sea Inside" (two out of many better films from 2004), they are shallow indeed. That's mainstream American moviemaking, post-turn of the century. (Or more likely, post-the origin of Hollywood. But, as old as I am, I'm still too young to know for sure.) |
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