The best film in a year of wonderful films.

Rating: Null/10 (14 February 2005)

Million Dollar Baby is the best picture of the year through and through. After taking the history of motion pictures last semester, I somehow decided that I was going to reject the mannered style of classical Hollywood cinema such as Howard Hawkes and Frank Capra, where style and montage are subordinate to narrative. Despite this, I couldn't stop myself from falling in love with this film from the first frame until the last. Clint Eastwood has an eye for film-making and directing that is worthy of all accolades, including the Oscars. If there is any justice, Clint will walk away with his second best director trophy, well deserved over Martin Scorsese (who also directed a good film. Just not as good, and noticeably not as good.) Million Dollar Baby follows the rise of underdog boxer Maggie Fitzgerald, in a flawless performance by Hilary Swank who has proved that her turn in 1999's Boys Don't Cry wasn't a fluke. She too will take home her second Oscar, also well deserved over her "overdue" competition who will remain nameless. Maggie is too old to start training, too inexperienced to fight and too dumb to realize it. The film centers around her relationship with hardened fighter-turned-trainer, Frankie Dunn (Eastwood) who approaches her with steadfast reluctance that believably morphs into a paternal love that words can hardly describe. Eastwood too gives a wonderful performance as Maggie's trainer/surrogate father whose troubled relationship with his own daughter leaves a void that Maggie fills with her unwavering loyalty.
Possibly even more wonderful than Eastwood and Swank is the film's narrator, Scrap played by the ever-lauded, yet still Oscar-less Morgan Freeman. His performance is on-point, consistent and almost effortless, as he narrates this tale with haunting grace. If this performance doesn't garner Freeman an Oscar, then there truly is no justice in the academy.
To say that this film switches gears some two-thirds of the way through is redundant and pointless at this point, considering the press the film has received. I won't specifically divulge what that twist is because it isn't my place. Yes, this movie is at its heart, about far more than just boxing. The fact that this movie is getting some bad press from right-wing media, wasn't the most Oscar nominated film (Scorsese's the Aviator got the most noms) and lost the Producer's Guild award will logically keep Million Dollar Baby from stealing the best picture trophy from the Aviator. However, like Hilary Swank's Maggie, I believe that Million Dollar Baby, with the odds stacked against it, will rise above all obstacles and take home Oscars for best picture, director, actress and supporting actor. Clint has truly pushed himself to earn his best director and best picture trophies this time around. While it would be great to see Scorsese finally take home an Oscar (it's a travesty that he doesn't have one by now), the general consensus is that it's Clint who deserves it and I'd be loath to disagree.