A familiar story that's told well

Rating: 8/10 (2 August 2007)

Million Dollar Baby made a splash at the box-office. Wowed critics the world over. And scooped four Oscars, including Best Picture. I did enjoy Million Dollar Baby. Clint Eastwood's direction is excellent. There are some fine performances from Eastwood (also starring), Hilary Swank and the underrated Morgan Freeman, and its quite well written too. But after seeing the film I was left wondering why so much fuss was heaped upon it. People called it the best film of 2004, and labelled it a modern classic. These opinions tend to make the film a little overrated. I just liked it for what it was. A well told story about lost hopes and dashed dreams. Nothing more.
Clint Eastwood is a fine filmmaker. He has a slick, economical directing style that make any film he directs intensely watchable. And he brings the same approach to Million Dollar Baby. But I can't help but wonder if the film would have gathered the same critical applause had it been made before Unforgiven, the film that had Clint Eastwood rediscovered all over again as a groundbreaking director. Clint had been making films 20 years before that, but people only started taking him seriously as a filmmaker until after Unforgiven. Had Million Dollar Baby been made all those years before, one suspects it would have received half of the attention.
It has a plot that's out of a hundred sports movies. An underdog boxer who wants to fight her way to the big time. So you could be forgiven for feeling beforehand that Million Dollar Baby is very predictable. I suppose it has a familiar story arc, but fine acting and Eastwood's direction allows it to transcend its stereotypical origins and become a superior film of the genre. If not quite in the classic bracket.
When Clint is not in the directors chair he plays Frankie Dunn, a down on his luck manager who trains possible heavyweight champions who end up signing with new managers. When his latest protégé leaves him in the lurch, he only has one option left. To train Maggie Fitzgerald (Swank), a female boxer. As a rule, Frankie doesn't train women, and Maggie at 31 is too old and too inexperienced. But he doesn't have much choice. She's his last student. Either he trains her, or the gym will go under.
Maggie barely makes ends meet as a waitress. Boxing is the one thing she's passionate about. And after relentlessly badgering Frankie for lessons, he gives in. With a little bit of nudging from Scraps (Freeman), a retired boxer who co-owns the gym with Frankie.
Maggie forms quite a rapport with Frankie and Scraps. And in between the lessons and training, she's allowed to share their private confidences. Frankie has a daughter he hasn't seen in years. No matter how many letters he writes, she sends them back, unopened and unwanted. Maggie becomes the daughter Frankie so desperately misses. Scraps (short for Scrap Iron) used to be a boxer under Frankie's training. But he lost an eye in the ring, and all because Frankie didn't know when to call it quits. Now Scraps spends his time at the gym training hopefuls, and only dreaming of what might have been.
Its individual vignettes like these where Million Dollar Baby really scores. Its a much better film than Rocky, because the excellent cast hits all the right notes. There's nothing wrong with any of these performances. Clint Eastwood delivers an honest, well honed turn as Frankie. This is a man who lets the world pass him by. And even when he tries to change that, he doesn't get much reward for his troubles.
Hilary Swank gives a brave and equally assured performance. She's not just up to the physical sessions, she also displays a quiet but astute assessment of the role. Something that serves her well in the third and final act.
And Morgan Freeman turns in another excellent performance as the world-weary Scraps, the role that finally netted him an Oscar. Certainly Morgan Freeman is an actor well overdue Oscar recognition. He should have won one back in 1994 for The Shawshank Redemption. Instead it went to Tom Hanks for the overrated Forrest Gump. And Freeman plays a part not that far removed from the one in TSR. He not only provides firm, moral support for Frankie and Maggie in times of crisis, but as the narrator of Million Dollar Baby, he's the film's moral centre.
With his customary resigned inflections, he delivers lines of dialogue about the harsh realities of life. And he convinces us without ever raising his voice. He never steps out of character. Which is what makes him such a fine actor.
For about three quarters of the way through, the film follows firmly established routes, but suddenly takes a step in another direction in the final act. Maggie ends up paralysed from the neck down. Its a shocking and emotionally crushing moment that leaves one quite numb.
Its this part of the film where Eastwood's direction really pays off. He shoots scenes in near darkness, interplayed light and shadow. And it gradually shows Maggie's deterioration. Not physically. But emotionally. And Eastwood deserves credit for avoiding conventional, melodramatic clichés. No sappy music or maudlin dialogue. Just cold hard facts underscored with true poignance. Hilary Swank is wonderful in these scenes. The silent expressions on her face speak volumes about her inner turmoil.
When she asks Frankie to help her die, its an approach that actually feels emotionally charged and honest. Not fake and obvious. Maggie's death scene is quite moving. And all because its told perfectly straight.
In the end, I do believe Million Dollar Baby falls just that little bit short of classic status. But it is an affecting story all the same. Its a successful package. And it succeeds on levels of acting, directing and writing. You really couldn't ask for anything more.