Brilliant

Rating: 10/10 (18 February 2005)

After Mystic river I thought Clint Eastwood could never do better than that. Well, with his latest effort, Million dollar baby, he came very close..
Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood) is an old boxing trainer and promoter who is spending most of his days training young fighters, learning Gaelic, and chatting with his janitor and best friend, an ex-boxer Scrap (Morgan Freeman). One day, a young women Maggie Fitzgerald (Hillary Swank), a wannabe and not very talented fighter comes into Frankie's gym and wants him to train her. At first, he refuses because he doesn't train girls and she's too old. However, Maggie doesn't give up and finally, Frankie agrees.. What follows is the most beautiful platonic relationship on film ever Words cannot even begin to describe the emotions ant the thrill I felt while watching this film. It's very moving, simple, at times very funny, and in the end tragic. Eastwood does what he knows best: He directs and acts. With his calm hand, he creates a fine balance between a boxing movie and an emotional human drama. The three main performances are amazing. Eastwood, Swank and Freeman create mutual relationships that are far more convincing and powerful than any romantic comedy. Swank is especially convincing in the scenes with her and her family who are without a doubt the most disgusting group of characters in recent years. The ending of this film won't be appealing to a lot of people, but it's very powerful and disturbing stuff, and it contains a a great message about life, freedom and most of all freedom of choice. If you keep an open mind, you should enjoy this wonderful film, which will sty on your mind a while after seeing it.
After having directed two master pieces in a row, the question is, can Eastwood go wrong. I hope not. Go Clint, go!