Million Dollar Baby - Million Dollar Experience

Rating: Null/10 (22 March 2005)

Heavy. Not in a ponderous way. More like overwhelming. While the movie has many parts that are light hearted and pleasant, the confluence of its undercurrents and themes towards the end seems almost too much to grasp. It left me deep in thought, struggling to deciminate this striking portrayal of human relationships. Acting was superb. The plot moved. I cared about the characters. Violence was sometimes difficult to watch but meaningful. Only criticism I had was some of the scenes could have used a little more lighting (too film noirish) and at times I had problems following the dialogue. One of my co-workers said this movie was not about boxing. I tend to disagree. It was about boxing, but was also about life, love, caring, redemption and dedication. Tough at times to watch, it was tough to forget. If you want "Singing in the Rain" or other family fare, this isn't the picture. If you want to feel emotions, whether they be happy, sad, or anywhere in between, if you want to care about the characters you watch and think about them later, put this one on the list.