*sniff* Dammit, Clint Made Me Cry!

Rating: 8/10 (13 February 2005)

MILLION DOLLAR BABY (4 outta 5 stars) Clint's movies seem to be getting sadder and sadder as he gets older... not his trademark good-guy-gets-the-bad-guy stuff... but realistic, human stories of heavy emotion. "Unforgiven", "White Hunter, Black Heart", "Mystic River" and now, his latest, "Million Dollar Baby". I was leery of the premise of this from the start... Clint playing a crusty old curmudgeon of a boxing coach who takes on a spunky young gal (Hilary Swank) against his "better" (i.e. male chauvinist) judgment. Well, of course, the young spunky gal proves herself and they go on together to fight a championship bout... but then things take a darker turn. A very powerful movie... with great performances by Eastwood, Swank and, as usual, Morgan Freeman. Some of the other performances are a little off-putting. The redneck parents of Swank's character are played a little too broad (especially the clichéd ex-con husband covered in tattoos). The slow-witted kid who hangs around the gym serves no purpose. And the priest that Eastwood talks to after mass every day... well, he's kind of a jerk, isn't he? He started out as an interesting character... but when called upon for compassion or insight towards the end he doesn't seem to have much to offer. Oh well, minor flaws... but a little tweaking here and there could have made this a truly Oscar-worthy pic. As it stands, I still think "The Aviator" ranks a tad higher.