No gratuitous sex but eye-averting violence

Rating: 8/10 (16 February 2005)

Well it is nearly always one or the other isn't it. Mostly I don't care for Clint Eastwood, though he can be terrific - "Play Misty for Me" being one example that comes to mind, but here he gives a performance that is completely believable, low-key and complex.
Here he plays Frankie Dunn, an older boxing coach and manager of a tacky male-only boxing gym. He goes to daily Mass and argues with the parish priest about matters of faith, he learns Gaelic and he keeps an old boxer, his helper (who is the narrator of the movie)living in a small room off the gym floor. Frankie is buttoned down, does not show his emotion but we are given hints that life has been hard on him, relationships have been destroyed and broken.
Maggie Fitzgerald (played by Hilary Swank)comes on the scene. She's a thirty-something hillbilly woman from southwest Missouri with a big dream which is nearly impossible to attain, she is too old, too broke and a woman to boot. But she inveigles her way into the gym and practically lives there, training incessantly.
I will not spoil the outcome, it works its way into your heart without being melodramatic or over the top Hollywood.
Hilary's performance is just as good as it was in "boys Don't Cry", she seems to immerse herself in these one of a kind roles and you are literally stunned at what she can do with them. I cannot imagine anyone else playing Maggie.
Morgan Freeman does a wonderful turn as Dunn's right-hand man, but it is Clint't direction and performance that puts the stamp of overall excellence on this movie. 8 out of 10.