A bit overrated, still the genius of the actors made it good enough to call it great.

Rating: 8/10 (11 October 2005)

I've now seen two recent boxing films in two days. And I'm astonished (and glad too) to find out how much "Million Dollar Baby" differs from "Cinderella Man". The latter one is a highly passionate presentation of a heroic, though predictable, true story. Million Dollar Baby is not stylish or passionate, its simplicity in direction or cinematography is a necessary marker of the harsh reality it depicts, unlike the fairy-tale truth of Cinderella Man. One can easily divide the film in two parts, and the first one is truly about boxing.
Cinderella Man is primarily a story of a man's struggle through life, only his profession is boxing. But the first part of MDB is about boxing and its technical details. In this case, according to the opinions of the viewers who know about boxing, Eastwood made some serious mistakes (some of them are listed in the 'Goofs' section). But the last half of the film shows us that boxing and technical details are not the point of this film too. How Eastwood and the screenwriters bring about the shocking plot twist and the brilliant ending is truly the best part of the film.
Now speaking of the actors, what can I say, it is one of the few films where all of the main cast members are at their best. I'm sure soon Hilary Swank will be type-casted in such roles, she's so good at them. Morgan Freeman is always a pleasure to watch. Here his character's cold chemistry with Frankie Dunn is quite enjoyable. For Eastwood, I don't know what to say, but I'm sure there are few performances that supply constant inspiration to all the people involved with cinema industry, it's one of them.
But as a director, Eastwood falters from his last year classic standard of "Mystic River". Maybe because as I've said earlier that this film is about harsh reality, not passion or style, Eastwood's direction is surprisingly bland, without any moment to praise whole-heartedly. Especially the boxing matches are utterly below average display. It's funny he got the Academy Award for direction, not acting.