Excellent Performances

Rating: 8/10 (1 August 2005)

"Million Dollar Baby" is perfectly cast --- the actors take on their parts and make them their own. The story is about a white trash girl, Maggie, who wants to make something of herself and believes that boxing is her calling. She seeks out Frankie to train her at the gym, but he refuses to take her on at first. At first you think Frankie's sexist, but his character is not that simple. The story builds steadily and you later realize Frankie has many good reasons not to train Maggie, but her spirit and dedication win him over eventually. Frankie ties himself emotionally to each person he trains and tries his best to make them champions. Morgan Freeman is excellent as Scrap the gym's custodian and his intelligence and ability to decipher Frankie even surprises Frankie. Scrap reminds me of a man I met one time at my company who earned a purple heart in the Vietnam War, but spent his days sorting mail in the mail room. Surely, this veteran had more to offer the world or maybe I just didn't understand that he had experienced and accomplished more than most people do in a lifetime. I think the situation is the same with Scrap -- being at the gym doing whatever is still immensely satisfying to him. How many people can say they'd want to live at their place of work like Scrap?! Hillary Swank is wonderful as Maggie and Clint Eastwood... well what's not to like? The man is brilliant in every way -- acting, directing, writing, and so soft spoken in real life that you love and respect him even more.
I also was immensely impressed by the minor players in the film, especially the actor who plays Maggie's mother, Margo Martindale. She is just excellent in her supporting role. Lucia Rijker is also fantastic as "Billie the Blue Bear". She is one tough lady! It wasn't until I watched the behind the scenes footage that I saw how pretty she is off screen.
One minor problem I can see with the film is the diction and audibility -- I couldn't understand everything Scrap said and had to use the subtitles feature on the DVD player. I understood all of his narration, but not some of his lines when he appeared on film. My complaint sounds like nitpicking and that's not my intention.
Finally, it is great to finally see a major film about women's boxing. I didn't know the women's version is just as violent as the men's. I am quite surprised boxing headgear is not worn in women's or men's boxing. Boxing with your bare head makes no sense when you see how many injuries are sustained such as concussions, broken eardrums, detached retinas, and such. The sport makes complaining about a broken nose sound like you're complaining about a broken finger nail. I've heard some of Muhammad Ali's present health condition is attributed to numerous blows to his head during his boxing years.
Overall this is an excellent film and well worth the time viewing.