Three excellent central performances elevate a clichéd story

Rating: 6/10 (24 March 2015)

Clint Eastwood must have gotten soft in his old age. While this isn't necessarily a criticism, MILLION DOLLAR BABY walks a fine line between emotionally powerful drama and sappy, overly sentimental melodrama. Fortunately despite the predictable plotting and cliché dialogue, it has a trio of excellent performances that keep it out of the kitchen sink. Front and center is Hilary Swank as Maggie, a down-on-her-luck waitress who aspires to be a boxer. Her performance is what really makes the film work due to her irrepressible spirit and down-home charm. Clint Eastwood also does an admirable job as Frankie Dunn, who reluctantly ("I don't train girls") takes a role as Maggie's trainer, manager, and mentor. And then there's Morgan Freeman, one of Frankie's former fighters, and who also co-runs a gym with him. I will admit that his presence in the film adds some depth as he is a connection to Frankie's past, but I didn't feel like he was integral to the story. Still, he had one of the film's best scenes when he shows that despite losing an eye (and being old), that he still has "it" in the ring. Beyond these three central performances, the film seems content to stick to the tired sports movie formula of having a older mentor train a younger up-and-comer, at least for the first 3/4. Despite the film having been out now for over 10 years, I still won't give away the sharp turn the story takes. At that point the film becomes something else which is more obviously heavy-handed and didn't quite work for me. It also doesn't help that the film strongly hints at the outcome very early on, robbing it of a lot of the emotional impact. And that is actually my biggest problem with the film. Not content to let the performances and story stand on their own, Paul Haggis (a producer/co-writer) insists on holding the audience's hand throughout the entire film. It didn't work for me in CRASH, and didn't really work for me here either. Still, Clint Eastwood manages to elevate the material to the point where I didn't hate myself for watching it. Overall, the three central performances are enough to loosely recommend this film, but just be aware that it is somewhat heavy-handed and relies a little too much on genre clichés.