Girls don't fight

Rating: 6/10 (6 February 2008)

I recently read the late F.X. Toole's only novel, 'Pound for Pound'; but watch 'Million Dollar Baby', derived from an earlier short story of Toole's, and you enter exactly the same world, that of seedy gyms occupied by old men for whom life is boxing, and boxing is life. The twist in this tale is that the central boxer is a woman; although the meaning of title eventually becomes apparent in a way you don't at first suspect. However, I found the film a little short on back story, the lead male characters (played by director Clint Eastwood, and fellow veteran Morgan Freeman) seem weary without explanation; sighing, which both are good at, is not in itself a sign of profundity. And rather as it did in 'The Shawshank Redemption', Morgan's narration softens the movie, which in fact is surprisingly unvisceral for a story about fighting. Likewise, the issue of how a woman finds social acceptance as a boxer is skirted; Hilary Swank's character feels more at home here than she does anywhere else, although we learn nothing of how she came to discover that boxing was her thing. Of course, in many ways, this film is better for not being 'Rocky'; but I still wonder, did it have to be quite so low-key?