The Winner!

Rating: 10/10 (28 February 2005)

I had the interesting experience of seeing "Million Dollar Baby" late yesterday afternoon, an hour or so before the Oscars. Having previously seen most of the other nominees for best picture as well as the performances up for awards, I had no difficulty in figuring out how I would have voted if I'd been eligible. "Million Dollar Baby" was the easy winner, as were Morgan Freeman, Hillary Swank, and Clint Eastwood for best director. This is a small picture by recent Hollywood standards but it is worthy of every honor it received. The only wasted moment in the entire movie comes the near the end when the incompetent young boxing hopeful, earlier beaten to a pulp, returns to try again. I could have done without that. However, the basic story is told with rare economy. Contrast that with "Ray" which is distended and directed with monumental self-indulgence by Taylor Hackford, another nominee for best director. I don't know that I would have given the best acting award to Eastwood. Though he combines surface restraint and inner turmoil in a brilliant realization of the trainer/manager to Swank's Maggie, Jamie Foxx certainly had the showier role -- and he was quite good in it. For myself, however, I would have given the Oscar to Don Cheadle for his performance in "Hotel Rwanda" as the hotel manager who reluctantly at first but ultimately at great personal cost and risk saves hundreds from slaughter. Swank and Freeman won the prizes they earned, and Clint Eastwood won the two Oscars he most deserved. Scorcese will win some other day.