There's good, there's bad, and there's ugly - in sum, barely mediocre

Rating: 3/10 (22 January 2005)

Please forgive the 'cute' subject line. Also, I never intend to throw in spoilers, but in evaluating the film with total honesty, it's sometimes necessary to do so. I also don't believe in plot summaries, as you can read hundreds of them elsewhere on this very site. In some ways, this evaluation reads best if you've already seen the movie. One or two more notes: I came into this film, as always, wanting to love it, and hoping to be transported, and at times it did take me for a good ride. Also, I happened to love Mystic River, the last directorial effort by Eastwood (Frankie),I could probably listen to Morgan Freeman ("Scrap") do a voice-over of The Congressional Quarterly, and though I never saw Boys Don't Cry, I am convinced there is an earnestness and an inner beauty to Hilary Swank (Maggie) that impresses me. Okay, on to the evaluation:
The good: Swank's performance as Maggie -- she did all she could with the role, although it wasn't the most interesting character, and she was ultimately let down by poorly drawn peripheral characters and a very mediocre script. Freeman is always good, and Eastwood's acting was pretty good. The look of the film was OK, the 3 leads looked their parts, the gym looked authentic, and it gave some insight to the job of the cutman. And, at times (but not often), the voiceovers added to the film. Also, some of the byplay between Frankie and Scrap was good stone-busting, yet it never elevated to great drama or great humor - just okay
The bad: The voiceovers too often told you what to think, or what was coming. They did not enrich the story, a la Shawshank, but often were patronizing, and seemed to be a device to cover for what the "action" could not do. All of the other characters - outside of the big 3 - were poorly drawn, and two-dimensional --all of them! For a movie that gave you pretty good boxing scenes and insight, it made no sense that Maggie didn't win the title on The Blue Bear's obvious disqualification. The backstory between Scrap and Frankie was not very interesting or textured. We never get enough, or really anything, about why Frankie's daughter never reads his letters. (That's not minimalism - that's just sloppiness. And, it's not like the film doesn't hit you over the head at other times.) Also, why does Maggie - the ultimate fighter in life and in the ring - suddenly do a "180" and want to die? There are so many shortcomings here: Why didn't the scenes with the priest really come alive, intellectually or emotionally? I don't mind that the movie switched tones, but aside from a touching moment or two between Maggie and Frankie, it had very little to say, and it didn't really explore the issues with any depth.
The ugly: There was absolutely no subtlety to the depiction of Maggie's family (and they couldn't have been a minor force in shaping who she was) --just horrible, lazy, mean-spirited screen writing here. A little bit of the Danger character went a long way --was there any explanation as to why he was still doing his idiot act for months on end at the gym? Again, he was too stupid to be truly sympathetic, and too cartoonish to be anything less than pitiable. Not funny, not even dramatic - just ugly.
When I watched this movie, I thought it was about an '8" or a "b". Every time I reflect on it, I get angry at the bad script, the two dimensional characters and the wasted talent, and the inability to really involve us, other than wanting to see Maggie (the ultimate diamond in the rough) make it. So, at best, this movie, on reflection, was a "D" -- I say this with sadness, and the feeling that if I keep thinking about it, its grade will plummet further.