A film so haunting that ultimately it becomes impossible to forget

Rating: 8/10 (5 February 2005)

Few films stay with me after time has passed but this is one of those that not only stays embedded in my psyche but shows everyone what making films is really about. Story is about Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood) who is a boxing trainer and cut man who runs a gym in Los Angeles but he also attends mass and writes letters to his estranged daughter. Living in a room in the back of the gym is Eddie "Scrap Iron" Dupris (Morgan Freeman) who was a fighter for 23 years and lost an eye in a bout that Frankie worked on. After a fight card Frankie is approached by Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank) who tells him that she wants to be a fighter and also wants him to train her but his response is "I don't train girls".
*****SPOILER ALERT***** Maggie is from a white trash family in the Ozarks and has been working as a waitress since she was 13 but she's determined to be a fighter and shows up at the gym religiously and works very hard. Scrap talks to Frankie and convinces him to train her which he does reluctantly and after time passes she starts her professional career by knocking out her opponent. Maggie becomes quite the sensation as she knocks out her opponents and eventually talks start for her to fight the female champion in her division (Lucia Rijker) and a fifty-fifty split for a million dollars. The fight is made but during the bout Maggie is seriously injured and ends up in the hospital paralyzed from the neck down. As she lies in a hospital bed Maggie also loses a leg and tells Frankie that she wants to die and now he must dig deep into himself and his beliefs for what he is about to do.
This is Clint Eastwood's 25th effort in directing and it's arguably his best ever which is incredible because last years "Mystic River" was getting the same accolades. Eastwood's directing is such a joy to view simply because every scene in his films has some sort of meaning to them and nothing that we see is for nothing. The banter that takes place between Frankie and Scrap might appear to be idle chit chat but what it's really doing is establishing the comfortable relationship that they obviously have. For me, this film is about pain and the three characters that carry pain around with them but do their best to keep going in life. The performances that take place on screen are three of the best not only this year but in the careers of these actors and Freeman as Scrap shows a man who's been through extremely tough times but came out of it with dignity intact. Eastwood has always been an underrated performer and while some critics think he relies too much on his incredible presence I still remember him giving solid efforts in several films. Here he plays a character so haunted by his past that he would rather keep most people at a distance but his character gradually learns to love and care once again to the point that he must make the ultimate decision. Eastwood is mesmerizing and he's never been better. I have alway's said that Swank gave one of the great performances in cinema history in "Boys Don't Cry" and here she gives another great performance that proves to everyone that she's no fluke. With her tenacity and earthiness Swank gives viewers an utterly believable character from her athletic prowess to the gut wrenching scenes in the hospital bed. It's a performance that will haunt viewers for years to come which is ironic because she did the same thing in 1999 with her Oscar winning role. I'm also a big boxing fan and I can find faults in some of the scenes such as the female champion hitting someone when they are down which in reality would result in an instant disqualification. These little flaws just mean that this film isn't entirely accurate but they don't detract from the emotional power that builds during it's duration. This is a tremendous effort from Eastwood who again shows that his direction can bring out the best in actors but what may surprise everyone (including himself) is that he brought out his own brilliant performance.