Minimalism yields emotions

Rating: 10/10 (15 February 2019)

This is one of Eastwood's most distinctive looking films. Using very static camerawork as well as a very subdued color palette Eastwood's film is rendered as a dance of light and darkness. The characters always seems to be floating in and out of shadows. It is as if they are on the edge of the abyss. The critical car scene when Maggie discusses her father and dog is especially striking in this regard. It is almost in the light is drawing the story out of her while plunging Frankie into darkness, or maybe it is the other way around. In any case the film is pushed in the quasi-Noir that fits the story perfectly.
This feature greatly enhances the performances by providing a ironic counterpoint to them. Eastwood, Freeman and especially Swank raw naturalism is all the more painful because of the direction. It is also worth noting that Frankie is among the most complex characters Eastwood has played and his steely masculinity is put to good ends here. Swank found her signature character in Maggie and boy is her turn heartbreaking.
The script isn't quite as good as the actual film. Eastwood as director really does enhance the story. The script is a bit too simple in its characterizations. The Blue Bear and Maggie's mother especially suffer from one note portrayals. Nonetheless, it reworks the genre into a power exploration of bodily autonomy and has one of the best uses of voice over I have seen, especially in how it is justified. It is quite literally a solid first draft.
The 3rd act twist and the treatment of the underlying issues will greatly bother some people. I am bothered by the central metaphor that Maggie uses to express her final desire. I can't fault the script for realism on this point; it is how Maggie would think of it. The expression is truthful for *these* characters but social it is a deeply troubling idea. The film is strong enough to treat its ending as ambiguous.
This is quite a film. It is so simple on the first pass. But the more you look at it the more graceful it seems.