Great film

Rating: 10/10 (21 February 2005)

There's a line in Million Dollar Baby where Scrap (Morgan Freeman) tells Frankie (Clint Eastwood) that if Maggie (Hilary Swank) were to die today, she would die a happy person, because she made it. But he didn't have to say that. It was obvious. The pace of the story and the performances from all three actors tells this so well.
Hilary Swank is amazing as a young woman who has nothing in this world but her own ambition and belief in her dream of becoming a boxer. "She grew up knowing one thing. She was trash." was what Scrap had said. Yes, it sounds recycled, like it's been tried before, but from the moment Swank walks on the screen, you believe it. She plays the part so honestly and without over indulgence in sensitivity and emotion. This may be because Eastwood's direction was to tell the story with simplicity and depth.
Once again Eastwood delivers a great story on screen, and his performance as a gritty, old boxing trainer with scars of his own was outstanding. As well was Morgan Freeman's character who's loss was the Championship, and his eye under the direction of Frankie years earlier.
To say that Million Dollar Baby is a heavy hearted film is putting it lightly. But it will stay with you for a few days. And at the end of it you realize just how much of a hero Maggie Fitzgerald is.