A wonderful little movie with enough quirks to make it a near classic

Rating: Null/10 (15 June 2005)

"Million Dollar Baby" is as well acted and executed a movie as one will likely see. Clint Eastwood steals virtually every scene he appears in, and Hillary Swank is great as his sidekick. The story is simple, yet quirky, and Morgan Freeman and the rest of the cast set up an appropriate mood of desperation. Although the remainder of this review will not be completely complimentary to the feature, I would recommend the movie to anyone wanting to see good cinema and an outstanding Clint Eastwood performance.
Now, it is time to put "Million Dollar Baby" into perspective. The film is simply not in the same league as the classic Paul Newman/Tom Cruise feature, "The Color of Money". Both movies have the making of a champion the central plot. However, "The Color of Money" is more fun, more realistic, and finally and oddly, more optimistic than "Million Dollar Baby". Tragedy and boxing always seem to go together. That has become cliché. Tom Cruise in "The Color of Money" is not a tragic character and strangely enough, neither is Paul Newman. Opening up the world of championship pool, and showing it for the joke it is, was far more entertaining and enlightening than yet another feature on the brutal and barely acceptable culture of boxing.
To conclude, I would recommend anyone who has seen "Million Dollar Baby" to view or review "The Color of Money" and come to your own conclusions on which story was better.