Million Dollar Baby: "I Don't Train Girls"

Rating: 7/10 (27 February 2006)

Maggie Fitzgerald is a thirty-one year old amateur female boxer, and all she wants is a fighting chance. "I don't train girls," says Frankie Dunn, a grizzled, but respected trainer who wants nothing to do with a girl fighter. With the help of Frankie's old partner and gym caretaker, Eddie Scrap-Iron Dupris, they convince Frankie to coach and to be Maggie's manager. Frankie has a relationship problem with his long-lost daughter and adopts Maggie along with her career, until she is seriously injured in a fight for championship and Frankie has to make a decision.
This movie was made in 2004 and directed by Clint Eastwood. Scrap (Morgan Freeman) is narrator through out this entire film. Maggie (Hilary Swank) is trying to escape her trailer-trash life and dysfunctional loser family. She accomplishes this by boxing, which she feels is her "way out." Frankie (Clint Eastwood) does not want to coach girls, but is finally convinced to not only coach Maggie, but also to become her manager. Maggie works very hard. She follows all Frankie's instructions, and does not ask any questions. When she finally starts fighting, she knocks out opponents in the first round. Soon nobody wants to fight her, so Frankie moves her up in class. She gets a fight against the champion, but everything goes wrong.
This movie does not have one particular plot, but several subplots. Frankie has a long-lost relationship with his daughter. He is constantly writing her letters, but they are all sent back to him. Maggie has a dysfunctional family which she is trying to escape. She also has a dream of becoming a professional fighter. This movie shows me that great films do not need one storyline, just great actors and directing.
This movie had excellent use of light and shade. There could not be any better characters put in one movie. I thought the part when Frankie asked Scrap why he had on socks with holes in them, his response was "I like to get air to my feet at night," yet Frankie gave him money to buy socks, though the money made its way to the tracks. This movie will make a viewer laugh, cry, and be moved by this powerful boxing classic.