Eastwood's best entry to date (2004)

Rating: 9/10 (10 February 2005)

Eastwood says "it is not a fight picture" but if this is not a fight picture then what is it? He calls it a "love story." What it really is, in pure essence, is a story of the triumph of the human spirit. Boxing, however, in particular a form even more odious to me than male boxing, if that is possible, is the thematic vehicle.
The only major weakness of the film lies in its "lines of broadcast" what we called a story riddled with predictability in the old Paramount creative lab where I was fortunate enough to be tortured and harassed by several old pros for some time; writers and masters, they were. The predictability rises to the level of contrivance. That said, though it's also generally a familiar tale it stands as Clint Eastwood's career best picture to 2004 and also his best performance to date. In the subtext of the Eastwood character's mysterious negative relationship with his own daughter (whom we never meet nor understand) as he trains a young woman boxer there lays a profound irony which takes the story into the realm of the classics.
The picture is a hard-sell pitch FOR euthanasia, in which I believe and something that thus far only the more intelligently governed nations can grasp (e.g. The Netherlands). It's also a real put-down on the entire fight game on several levels; the most salient is the retarded character, with the obvious name: Danger Barch. His entire presence and subtext scenario is not accidental.
Not a major aspect but although predictable the script carries very good dialog.
The heartfelt gift of this film, however is a return to the fabulous rolling narrative performed by Morgan Freeman in Shawshank Redemption. Here, he once again asks us to sit quietly with him as he tells his bittersweet human tale.
The feature has from me a qualified recommendation (if you can tolerate depicted boxing violence in the extreme).