Eastwood's Powerful Epic brings out the best in everything

Rating: 9/10 (19 December 2005)

Million Dollar Baby, if nothing else, brings forth the best performances you are likely to ever see out of both Eastwood as director and actor and Hilary Swank who really does perform above and beyond. Eastwood has been one of my favorite actors for a long time, more so his new work in the last 20 years...ie: Mystic River, True Crime, A Perfect World, Absolute Power and so on. I think he has come into his best work in his later years. When accepting his lifetime achievement award several years ago he stated that his best work was still ahead of him and that was the truth!! Million Dollar Baby is the rarely told story of a female Boxer who has the passion and heart but lacks the training. Eastwood plays a rough and tough former trainer turned cut man who is so passionate about boxing and protecting his boxers and when one of his prime boxers leaves him for another manager his sense of responsibility is quite shaken. Enter Swank as the tough as nails Maggie who won't give up on trying to get Eastwood to train her despite his insistence that he "doesn't train girls." Her insistence and his lack of faith in his boxers causes them to team up and their bond becomes unbreakable as her intense spirit and his rough exterior but faithful interior comes together. Enter the incomparable Morgan Freeman as Mr. Scrap, the former boxer who Eastwood trained back in their hey day. Scrap has leaved in Eastwood's gym and cleans the floors and is just kind of there to offer wisdom, even when it's not needed. Like it or not, they are all each other has.
The story is powerful and the action is intense. The fight scenes hold nothing back and they are brutal and gory but you barely notice with all the amazing heart in this film. The story really has little to nothing to do with boxing but rather about these people...not just Maggie and Frankie and Mr. Scrap but even the other people around them from Maggie's family, to Danger the mentally handicapped boy who wants to box more than anything.
Eastwood, Freeman and Swank perform their characters so beautifully. Granted Frankie played by Eastwood is the typical gruff and rough kinda character you'd expect from Eastwood but he plays it like no other could and he puts real soul into the character. Swank deserves all the praise as Maggie Fitzgerald. Her character is unique and interesting, and tough, and emotional, all at once and we really get to see where she came from, where she was going...we see her at her highs and lows and you can't stop watching her. Swank is brilliant!! Freeman's character adds real class and his narration of the story adds a grim bleakness to the story. It's a very sad and touching story from beginning to end and it's an instant classic that any lover of film must see. I don't know why I'm not smacking a 10 out of 10 on this...something holds me back from that but no one will be disappointed with this. Eastwood's direction is dead on, and the entire story is so gritty and dark but with this slight ray of light and hope and love and passion and dedication. It's one of the most unique films ever made. I admit I'm a huge boxing film fan...there doesn't seem to be many films that can go wrong when it places itself in the midst of boxing (I also more recently ADORED Cinderella Man), there is just something very passionate about boxing. This is well worth the watch for something very powerful and real. Definitely watch it!! 9/10