A vintage of a film by Clint Eastwood -- for mature appreciation, no doubt

Rating: 8/10 (1 January 2005)

A rare true depiction of life's fragility - its dilemma of hopes and dreams, risk taking and facing mishaps - can we ever avoid, do we always blame - does God care? "Birth, Aging, Sickness, Death" are inevitable stages to one's life cycle (a Chinese traditional saying).
I really like this Clint Eastwood film. Besides directing, producing, and performing in "Million Dollar Baby," Eastwood also did the music which was simply well-integrated and perfectly composed to match and quietly enhance the plot progression, the mood, and the reaction of the characters. This is a gutsy film, gritty in emotions. It can be a tear-jerker yet not at all sentimental. It tells it like it is - the down to earth hard living of boxing (the theme being a 'crutch'), while the crux of the story concentrates on three main characters (each with haunting past): Eastwood as Frank the weathered boxing trainer, Hilary Swank as Maggie the enthusiastic spark in this whirl of boxing energy, and Morgan Freeman as "Scrap" - besides being the voice-over narrator, provided the bridging catalyst as the cool and caring mainstay to both Frank and Maggie. There are sprinkles of wit and humor here and there - that's how life is: making up of laughter and smiles occasionally in the midst of challenges and struggles, joys and disappointments, hesitation and reinforcement of faith, plucking up courage to take that risk, and mishaps nevertheless happen. There is "whose life is it anyway" dilemma - the confrontation of death, to be or not to be. Reminds me of the theme of Alejandro Amenábar's "The Sea Inside" (a film I've yet to catch - it was shown for only a few days just before Christmas week. A good film with tough subject is so hard to come by.)
Since "True Crime" 1999 (which I appreciate and posted comments), I prefer this Eastwood endeavor more than "Mystic River" 2003, "Blood Work" 2002, "Space Cowboys" 2001. Here we have basically a simple story in structure (screenplay by Paul Haggis), focusing on only three main characters (not ensemble casts we've been getting so often lately). This is not exactly a total upbeat film, but it is poignantly true in the expression of feelings, conversations, and the inevitably linked relationships between them - unspoken support to each other in being alive, appreciating living and respecting death.
Yes, the subject of death is not being shied away - it's approached head on with no circumventing the issue. With the ending of year 2004, the many events that involved increasing number of deaths, debate on wars, disasters, religious beliefs - the question of faith does come into play. There are no straightforward answers to questions of morality or the right thing to do - God's or man's decision (one believes that God works in mysterious ways for reasons one may not understand fully). And so the ending, be it a resigned assumption or not, it boils down to trusting one's heart with faith. And Freeman's calm voice closes well as it began - almost with a poetic touch to the tone.
The music lingered on (Lennie Niehaus orchestrated) beyond the credits roll. "Million Dollar Baby" - a loaded title (precious Maggie that appeared from nowhere; replacing an empty spot of an unreachable daughter; the professional status Maggie attained; takes a lot of heart to train her; takes a lot of courage to fulfill her request). The film did present and tackled a thoughtful subject after all. This may not be a Hollywood blockbuster, but the three stars' impeccably inhabited roles in this quintessential Eastwood film certainly warrant equal appreciation.