A sentimental masterpiece from Clint Eastwood. . .the old softy

Rating: 10/10 (8 April 2005)

From 1964 to 1993, Clint Eastwood was the epitome of the all-American tough guy. He brooked no insult, pulled no punches and was always committed to (violent) action, regardless of the consequences. Through much of the late 1970's & 1980's, this act got a little worn out, especially in "Heartbreak Ridge" and the final two "Dirty Harry" films. But then in 1992, he did a movie with Morgan Freeman called "Unforgiven". In that film, his trademark machismo gained a new dimension as he played a man who is haunted by all the horror he has caused through killing, but who is simply unsuited for anything else. The movie was rightly hailed as a masterpiece and won Oscars for Best Picture & Best Director. Things seemed to be looking up for the re-invented Clint.
And then in 1995, the unthinkable happened: he went all soft on us with a movie adaptation of "The Bridges of Madison County". Ever since then--even when he played the tough guy--the movies he did had a sentimental bent. Typically, there was a subplot involving Clint trying to re-establish a relationship with an estranged grown daughter and either a too-neat happy ending or a syrupy tear-jerker of a denouement.
With the release last year of "Mystic River", many of us had high hopes that Eastwood was back on his game again. In that film, he seemed to have abandoned sentimentality altogether and--like Woody Allen and Spike Lee in the last few years--realized that he should stay behind the camera. But now he has gone and made another unabashedly sentimental movie where he plays an old guy looking to re-connect with his estranged daughter. However--like "Unforgiven"--"Million Dollar Baby" co-stars Morgan Freeman, it won Oscars for Best Director & Best Picture, and it is rightly hailed as a masterpiece.
In this one, Eastwood plays Frankie Dunn, a gym owner/boxing trainer/manager who reluctantly takes on Maggie Fitzgerald (Hillary Swank) as a trainee, but only because his star boxer dumped him on the eve of a title fight. Freeman plays basically the same role as he did in "The Shawshank Redemption" (narrator/best friend/voice of wisdom). The only real difference is that instead of a pork-pie hat and prison grays, he wears a battered fedora and a bushy white mustache reminiscent of the one he wore for his "Mad Scientist" character on "The Electric Company". (When are they gonna get around to putting that out on DVD?)
The movie starts out as a better-than-average take on the "Rocky" story, only with a female protagonist. But then, about two-thirds of the way into the film, Maggie has a crippling accident in the ring, and the film becomes an emotionally wrenching meditation on the true definitions of love, family, dignity, sin, and life itself. The far right has attacked this film because the definitions that these characters have of those concepts do not fit the fundamentalist theocratic agenda. But if the film conformed with their wishes, I don't think it would be nearly as good. (And those who think these statements are anti-Christian are advised to read my review of "The Passion of the Christ"). We see Clint give his best performance ever as Frankie goes through the torment of the moral dilemma of either killing the girl he has come to love as a daughter or letting her unwillingly lie in a hospital bed for untold years. And we get to see a brilliant scene where Maggie rejects her own family in favor of Frankie that was probably the tipping point that won Hillary her second Oscar.
The main thing that struck me about this movie, though, are the voices of Clint and Morgan Freeman. In "Unforgiven", their voices were only slightly raspy, but 12 years later their voices are downright gravelly. I was also struck by the visual similarities with "Mystic River"--the blue tint of the film & the long, dark shadows that hide the character's faces at crucial moments.
The film has only one weakness: Screenwriter Paul Haggis apparently believes the shopworn stereotype that all red-state dwellers--especially Texans--are illiterate, unreconstructed, welfare-cheating, trailer-dwelling, racist white trash. However--like the racist caricatures in "Gone With the Wind"--it is not enough to diminish the artistry of a truly compelling cinematic masterpiece. 10 out of 10.
P. S. The next time Clint thinks of making a comedy (he's made a handful--all bad) or musical (he's made two--both bad), he needs to cast Morgan Freeman. That way, the movie will be a true masterpiece & will win Oscars for Best Director & Best Picture.