Gritty Realism with Heart

Rating: 6/10 (4 March 2005)

Million Dollar Baby, is the newest, as of March 4, 2005, Best Picture winner at the Academy Awards. I am fairly pleased with its victory (I would've been thrilled if Sideways had won), although I am surprised that The Aviator didn't take the award (I'm glad it didn't). Anyways, it is film directed by Clint Eastwood, who is quickly establishing himself as a great director.
It is a film in the fashion of Eastwood's own Mystic River in that it explores a darker and grimmer side of human life. What made the film for me was Eastwood himself. Sure, in the trailer, he seems to be a caricature of the tough-guy boxing coach, but you must see the movie to see how Eastwood's acting skills help develop the character of Frankie Dunn. Eastwood's direction is gritty, realistic, and completely unashamed of the message he portrays through the lives of the characters on screen. Further, Eastwood's music (where's the nomination, Academy?) beautifully and heartbreakingly sets the tone.
The story is that of Maggie Fitzgerald (played INCREDIBLY by Hilary Swank with honesty and heart), an older (at least in the boxing world) woman who will only let herself be trained by one man, Frankie Dunn. Frankie's friend and the training center's janitor is Eddie Dupris, who is played by Morgan Freeman and who voices over much of the film (a la The Shawshank Redemption). These three actors so beautifully portray their characters that it approaches the indescribable.
One of the film's interesting points (although it is a slight downfall), is its use of somewhat one-dimensional characters. By this I mean, that the main characters rarely, if ever, show an evil side, while the enemies of these characters rarely, if ever, seem to contain even a bit of good. This is interesting to me because Eastwood is realistic, at least in the sense that he's not afraid to explore tragedy and evil, but he still uses some one-sided characters, seemingly to contrast the multi-dimensional (although they are ever-heroic), heartful characters.
The beauty of life, the wondrous escape of death, and shattered hopes are topics that Eastwood is so unafraid to portray, and this is somewhat refreshing to the viewer. Not everything has a simple solution, and Eastwood wants to show us that too, by ultimately offering the viewer a very troubling resolution.
Final Grade: A.