Better than a million bucks

Rating: 9/10 (12 February 2005)

Honestly, there was little doubt that this film would be good. With the actors, the director the talent, it was a sure hit. And yet, it still somehow exceeds expectations. First and foremost, Million Dollar Baby is not a boxing film. Yes, boxing is in it. There are boxing matches. Many of the characters are connected because of boxing. But through this the film reaches for so much more than simply telling the story of a boxer and her trainer. Instead, the film ultimately tackles issues of faith, love, life, fate, will, strength and ultimately asks one of the greatest questions of all: what does it mean to live? That's not to say there aren't any cliché's in the film. As hopeful Maggie Fitzgerald goes against all odds to reach her dream of fighting for the world championship there is a hint of familiarity in her efforts that comes in the form of Rocky or real life boxer Jake La Motta (spotlighted in Raging Bull.) Yet, for every cliché there is an original element wholly unique to this story.
Moreover, the characters become real. Eastwood's Frankie Dunn begins as a grumpy, old man who wishes not to train Maggie because she is both a girl and too old. Hmm where has this been seen before? But then, it does not end there, and the journey Frankie as well as the rest of the characters face does not lead to familiar territory but rather to a myriad of difficult questions, leaving the viewer with no easy answers. This film does not end with everything tied up in a neat little bow.
What Million Dollar Baby does do, though, is leave an impact. Seldom becoming manipulative and always holding a quiet grace, much like in both of Eastwood's previous films Unforgiven and Mystic River, it takes ideas used before and breathes new life into them. The style Eastwood directs with is unmistakable and the emotion he creates unforgettable.
Then there is the ending. Recently much controversy has come from some of the choices made by characters at the end of the film, with political commentators condemning the film (Rush Limbaugh is a big example) and some major published reviews even spoiling the end of the film because of its supposed "political ambitions." It's unfortunate, and the hubbub is completely silly. Eastwood has said himself that he meant the film as a story, not a quick answer to a political problem of today. Sometimes the characters an actor will play or the story a director will tell aren't necessarily their point of view. That's why acting is called acting; a character is created. A story is told to transport as well as reflect.
Furthermore, much of these complaints likely come from people who haven't even seen the film (it's sadly reminiscent of the butchering Martin Scorsese received for his work The Last Temptation of Christ.) Even more ironic is the fact that the very viewpoints of the attackers of this film are brought up and questioned within the narrative itself. Overall, it's best to see Million Dollar Baby without any knowledge of the ending or even the major plot points, and to instead let the film tell its story. This is art, subtle but never compromising, an example of Eastwood at his best and of cinema at it's finest.