Good Old Fashion Storytelling

Rating: Null/10 (19 March 2005)

The funny thing is that a few months before this film came out, I was extremely disappointed with cinema in general and asked, "Why can't anyone just make a simple story and tell it?" Sure, there's a handful of films out there like that, but why are they so few and far between? Why must there be gimmicks? Why so many distractions (that don't distract) for the audience? And along comes Clint Eastwood . . . thank you, Mr. Eastwood for having integrity and making the movies you want to make.
I love this movie. I'd go as far as to say it's one of the best films I've seen in the past ten years. What is Million Dollar Baby? Just a good old fashion movie, shot in a solid old fashion style, whose focus is squarely placed on its characters where it belongs. That's it ladies and gentlemen. This is story telling at its best.
And honestly, the story really isn't even remotely unique  a character has a dream and shoots for it despite the opposition. This same story has been told thousands of times under thousands of titles and thousands of variations on the circumstance--in one movie it happens to be a warrior fighting for a cause, in another movie it's about an Olympic team, here it's simply about a woman who wants to take up boxing. But you know what? If it's done well, it doesn't matter how many times we've heard variations on the tale.
Million Dollar Baby is done well.
I could go through and talk about the characters, the wonderfully realistic, sincere, and heartfelt performances from Eastwood, the ever-awesome Morgan Freeman, and Swank, but this film's strength lay in "how" and not "what." As stated earlier, it's a simple story that's been told numerous time--person has a dream and chases it--what separates Million Dollar Baby from the rest of the pack is how the story/characters are presented, and that needs to be experienced first hand.
Even if people are usually turned off by "sports" films (believe me, I'm one of them), I still highly recommend Million Dollar Baby because, quite frankly, this is not a sports movie. In Million Dollar Baby you meet Eddie, Franky, and Maggie, you spend time with these three, learn about them, and they become real so you no longer watch their lives, you experience it too.
It's somewhat strange that the best films I've seen I have so little to really say about them. The greatest compliment I can give to any film is simply stating that an accurate description is beyond words. It has to be seen, heard, and felt. The film has to be experienced.
Million Dollar Baby is one of those movies.