Powerful and Deeply Affecting Film

Rating: Null/10 (15 January 2005)

For a long time, boxing has provided a rich source of material for the movies but this, the most recent film from Clint Eastwood, has to rank among the best.
Eastwood plays Frank Dunn, a small-time boxing manager and gym owner and Morgan Freeman plays Eddie "Scrap-Iron" Dupris, an ex-boxer, blinded in one eye during a fight, who works in the gym. The two men are friends and they both feel their glory days have been and gone. Hilary Swank plays Maggie Fitzgerald, a 30-something waitress who wants to be a boxer as a way of escaping her daily tedium and poverty.
The film, like all good sports movies, is about much more than the game. "Million Dollar Baby" is about people who have seen their dreams vanish and those who are starting to find them. Brilliantly made, with the slow, elegiacal tone of the film frequently punctuated by vicious, bruising boxing scenes, and superbly performed by three great actors at their best. While the film may seem at times a little overlong and slow, this is a very small criticism. It's really powerful stuff with some great performances.