"Million Dollary Baby" - a knockout

Rating: 10/10 (21 January 2006)

I'm amazed at the strength of this movie, "Million Dollar Baby." I'm also amazed at how far its director and lead actor, Clint Eastwood, has progressed as a filmmaker. (It's easy to see that his "Dirty Harry" days are way behind him.) Since 1992's "Unforgiven," we've seen an insightful, straightforward way of storytelling from the actor-turned-director, who has developed the most unique talent of any filmmaker alive today, which is to understand his characters and present them in a significant, but not overstated fashion that brings about their emotions, pains, and successes. His latest film, adapted by screenwriter Paul Haggis from stories printed in "Rope Burns: Stories from the Corner" by the late F.X. Toole, searches the souls of three people in the boxing ring of life. The first is old and tired gym owner Frankie Dunn (Eastwood), the type of world-weary character Eastwood specializes in, who knows the ring inside-out and reads poetry in his spare time. The second is hillbilly (white trailer trash?) Maggie Fitzgerald (a knockout powerhouse played by Oscar-winner Hilary Swank), who thinks boxing is the only way out of her job as a waitress, which she has been doing since the tender age of 13. Frankie reluctantly takes her under his wing and their path leads her on an escapable course with destiny. She trains hard, sweats hard, knocks out the competition in one round for several bouts (a feat that embarrasses the daylights out of certain managers), and a chance at a title shot if she can unseat the brutal Billie "The Blue Bear" (Lucia Rijker). She makes a complete turnaround in character, going from bright-eyed rookie to seasoned professional, and the way the film tracks her progress is relayed to us beautifully. Lastly, there is Scrap (Morgan Freeman), who is also the story's narrator. Scrap is sincere in his narration in yet another world-weary manner like Eastwood and doesn't twist or play with his words to make points. As a former fighter who Frankie once trained, he's blind in one eye, out of the ring, but possess the wisdom worthy of one to tell a story like Frankie and Maggie's. It's not hard to see why Roger Ebert showered it with praise; nothing in his review convinced me he was lying. The raw power of "Million Dollar Baby" lies in the performances and straightforward narrative of the story, all of which I described earlier. It won four Oscars and two Golden Globes, though sadly enough the emotional score that Eastwood himself composed didn't win anything. This is the best movie about boxing and boxers I've seen since "Rocky" (1976). But right there is the distinction. "Million Dollar Baby" isn't so much about boxing and winning the title as it is a close inspection of the relationship of three different people. "Rocky" is about that one shot, that one chance to make something of yourself; this film is about living those dreams. "Million Dollar Baby" - a knockout.
10/10