Good story telling technique but script is lackluster compared to everything else.

Rating: 7/10 (19 March 2005)

Million Dollar Baby is a very good film. If I were to make a top ten, it would be on there but not before probably 4-6 films. This is not Clint Eastwood's best directorial job. It is however his best performance as an actor and in my mind, deserved more recognition than just a nomination. Swank and Freeman are both very good but in my opinion they fall short of Eastwood's performance. Most critics and industry people are jaded because they form relationships with these people and root for them and that taints the accuracy of reviews and nomination processes Freeman won this year because he should have won a long time ago for either Driving Miss Daisy or Shawshank Redemption, whereas this year the actual best performance in that category was clearly Thomas Haden Church. Swank won because she was in the best movie at the best release time. If Eternal Sunshine for the Spotless Mind was more popular and was released after Halloween, Kate Winslet would be billed everywhere in every magazine as the next Meryl. I think what makes this film fall short of being an immortal piece of work is the script. It's good, like everything else in the movie (except maybe cinematography, but that's being very picky). However, Haggis' script is not insightful enough. There is too much responsibility on the actor's side to give us insight into the suffering all of them have suffered and are suffering. That is why I feel Eastwood's performance is the best in the entire film. He tells us everything that has gone on in his life with just his look and voice. Freeman and Swank give us some indication but not to the depth. Had Haggis provided more insight into the struggles of Scrap and the drama between Maggie and her family or a deeper relationship exploration between her and Frankie, this would have moved me deeper and placed it among the great American movies.