All the necessities of Great, but obviously placed

Rating: Null/10 (20 January 2005)

After reading a few reviews on both sides, I decided to go because the award nominations have been numerous and The Aviator is another erroneous overrated Scorcese biopic starring DiCaprio (and Gangs of NY was overrated as well). But anyway, I really enjoyed this film. You ultimately believed the stories and characters, the mood and pace were genuine, and there were 3 or 4 scenes that were really top-notch. And the studio mostly kept their hands off the movie, including the finish.
Despite the genuine heart and reality of the movie, it did have it's flaws. The lighting was unrealistic and frustrating to a point. The dialog was cheap and easy. The characters were never introduced beyond superficial archetypes. They should have had more "everyday" situations to show we weren't in some fantasy-land - which appeared to be both in the 1960's South as well as modern L.A. - and fewer scenes of Bad-Guy Set-up.
The fairly crowded house for an Art-House theater on a Wednesday night clapped, cried overtly, and mostly stayed talking until the credits were finished. I'd take Finding Neverland as best picture, but Million Dollar Baby is quite close. Bravo to Eastwood for his current directing skills and for his entire varied career.