Eastwood TKO

Rating: 10/10 (1 February 2005)

Grizzly, testosterone-driven Clint Eastwood hits the emotional juggler in a film that succeeds as a simplistic, yet profoundly meaningful and poignant masterpiece of the human soul and spirit: of coming out from the hollow shadows of apathy and defeat to realizing our ambitions and giving our best to fulfill all that we've been given in life. "Million Dollar Baby" is a mirthful and uplifting journey as well as a brutal and harrowing wake-up call: it bleeds with compassion for its characters, each representing a slice of the "hard-knocked life", and delivers many eclectic punches yet never holds back on its powerful theme. The acting here is impeccable: Eastwood delves inside the troubled and ostensibly conflicted Frankie Dunn with naked solemnity; Freeman is portentous as always in his scruffy narration, astute observance, facetious relief and unwavering empathy; Swank, of course, the highlight of this remarkable film, is nothing short of marvelous and outstanding, channeling the deep-seated wounds, abjections, and ambitions of Maggie Fitzgerald as if this challenged life paralleled her own. The plot revolves around boxing, yet its underlying theme that rings deep and true for Maggie is survival through overcoming adversity and despair: we feel engaged in the understanding that whatever punches she releases, she is relinquishing her justified bouts against life with as much passion and vigor as she can stomach, which indeed is ameliorated by her "boss", trainer, and inspiration, Frankie. There is nothing more emotionally absorbing than rooting for a genuine innocent like Maggie who has somehow overcome neglect, discouragement, and poverty, in exalting herself as a champion in her ultimate, and single, passion in life. Not to be mistaken, the film also very much encompasses Frankie Dunn (Eastwood), who seems to bear enormous guilt and emotional distress that could perhaps be remedied in giving this "girlie" a shot in life, as if embracing Maggie as the daughter he never knew and always desired. The emotional intensity of "Million Dollar Baby" is virtually seamless and unequaled to anything I've experienced in quite many years; such as the aspiration that Maggie eventually realizes from her ravaged-turned rewarding existence, the emotional impact by the end is something one couldn't possibly anticipate, but almost definitely experiences. The veritable narration also resonates with many of the film's events, as if resounding themes, most especially: "You can only protect yourself" and "Hold back too long, and you'll lose the fight": it becomes heart-pounding and true beyond anything you can imagine... "Millon Dollar Baby" is one of the most engaging, invigorating, hearty, and harrowing films you will ever get the "shot" at enduring. Its climates of moral adversity, affliction, survival, and redemption culminate as one powerful, emotionally brutal "knockout" of a message and a masterpiece that is deeply felt and appreciated on nearly every level. Another note: the use of shadow and darkness throughout the character structure of the film is impressive and telling, serving to deepen the emotional subtlety of its core. Simple, yet hardly guileless, and resoundingly potent and true: this is one of the most fulfilling and affecting experiences delivered in cinema with one indelible mantelpiece of a message: "Only you can protect yourself": fight for what is within you, regardless if nobody's watching and only you can see it, and do what you must to fulfill your fervent, aching soul: whatever is infeasible to your surroundings can be achieved from one's impetuous direction, as Maggie Fitzgerald teaches us. Excoriation is not an option: it's either the shot that beats you or the shot that engenders you. **** out of ****