Baffled at the rave reviews of this movie

Rating: 5/10 (22 December 2008)

I've never been so dumbfounded by the rave response a movie has received than this. Did a high school drama student write this? Oh, it was Clint wasn't it? Yaaawwwwn. Unbelievably under-utilized talent because of an unbelievably amateurish, two-dimensional script. Is there any complexity or depth to any of the characters? No. To the story? No. HIllary Swank's character--the average girl from humble origins with grand ambitions. Despite how boring her character is, we are supposed to love her for her plucky spirit, and of course because of those awful, unloving parents she has. That's about all we can say for her, because that's as developed as this great actress is allowed to get with this horribly empty story and script. Clint is, well, Clint, as usual--the curmudgeonly boxing club owner who's hiding a big heart. Freeman, the wise older black man who has seen it all, and calmly narrates the story, yet whom we are to believe is content with his position, living in an 8x8 room in a stinky boxing gym. Freeman can't hide his intelligence and his greatness in such a shabby role as this--it just doesn't ring true. Swank as well, must've had to dumb herself down. I imagine it was absolutely no challenge at all for any of them to perform these vapid roles, and that Hillary Swank took much more pleasure in being recognized for her much more demanding Boys Don't Cry role. Perhaps Clint forgets that REAL actors require more complex characterizations than Dirty Harry.