Mark of a Great Storyteller

Rating: 8/10 (6 February 2005)

I was in no hurry to see MILLION DOLLAR BABY. I am not a fan of boxing films, and I still think the title is less than stellar. And after seeing it, I haven't changed my opinion that ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND is the best film I've seen so far in the 21st century.
But number two of the century for me is now MILLION DOLLAR BABY.
It's not the story itself that makes this such a great film. The story with it's surface emphasis on underdogs and redemption is actually fairly routine. It is the way Clint Eastwood tells this story, the way he gets such understated yet magnificent performances from his cast, the brilliant use of lighting, of story pacing through editing, his unobtrusive but highly effective music...This film is a textbook example of the best of film storytelling that should be studied by film students in this generation and the next. And the next, and the next...
This is not a film about boxing. This is a film about human beings, their hopes, fears, flaws, and potential for transcendent greatness, sometimes through staggering self-sacrifice. It is told with such love and compassion for the human condition that it gives me a little much-needed faith that maybe the human race is still capable of more than the mundane goals it seems to be setting for itself lately.
The supporting performances are uniformly excellent. But the three leads reach levels of acting on a par with any great performance you'd care to name in film history. I have not been a Hilary Swank fan. But her work here forces me to acknowledge that she is one of the best in her profession. And just when I thought Morgan Freeman couldn't get any better, here he is with the best performance I have ever seen from him. And considering his past work, that is really saying something.
And speaking of best performances, here the legendary Clint Eastwood crowns his career with a titanic performance that redefines him as an actor for the ages. And trust me, the fact that he did it while simultaneously having to spend so much time and loving care on this film as a director makes his work as an actor all the more amazing. Consider this, too: if MDB had been someone else's film, would that director or producer even have thought to cast him in this role?
I didn't really expect to be saying these things about this film. But I mean every word of it.