Knocks you flat...

Rating: 10/10 (2 February 2005)

The best way for one to enter the viewing experience of this movie is to read nothing about it first. But since that is impossible for most people- I know I can't pay $9 for a movie ticket without at least getting a feel for the critical waters, I will do as best I can to summarize what I feel is the movie deserving of all of the major Oscar categories, even if the criminal snubbing of Martin Scorcese has to continue for yet another year.
Million Dollar Baby is a film that will put you through a wringer of emotions that will make you feel like you've been in the boxing ring yourself. Although Unforgiven is still, in my opinion, Eastwood's masterpiece in film-making, MDB is definitely going to be Clint's twilight opus. Although the man isn't exactly on death's door, there are only a limited number of films left in him. And if this is the last film he ever makes, then he has certainly gone out with a bang.
I guarantee you- if you see this film, you will be genuinely touched and moved. None of the actors- Morgan Freeman, Hilary Swank, and even Clint Eastwood himself, have been better. If anything, a film such as Million Dollar Baby has served to remind me what a dull and lonely world we will be in when great filmmakers and actors like Freeman and Eastwood are no longer among us, just as the world became less lively and funny when Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthou left us.
I apologize that this review is not more specific. It is because the most profound experiences I've had in movies came only when I knew very little about what I was about to see. All you need to know is this is a truly moving story about the human condition. That Clint Eastwood has made a film that will make you think about how you view certain issues, and should at the very least give you pause. That the characters in Million Dollar Baby are ones who will stay with you for a very long time, and that you will never forget them. And when the end credits start to roll, you will wonder how 137 minutes could go by so quickly.