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Million Dollar Baby review
2005.02.11 — Entertainment | Movies | Movie Reviews | by Andrew Cole
Three of the toughest characters you are likely to meet. [official site] |
Clint Eastwood is a great director, you know? Most people don't think of him that way because his move into the director's chair came late, after a legendary career acting, and stayed low-key. But I'd put him up against any other director in the world and spot you two action sequences.
Million Dollar Baby is low-key. It's so low-key you might not realize that you're allowed to laugh at the jokes. And Eastwood and Freeman are so good together it's almost unforgivable that they haven't work together more.
Eastwood plays against type as a crotchety old guy who talks in a low growl even when he's not angry. Morgan Freeman is a crotchety old guy who talks in a fatherly tone even when he is angry. Hillary Swank is a young lady who enjoys boxing other ladies.
[L]ike all boxing movies, this movie is not about boxing. |
The screenplay was written by Paul Haggis, who comes out of dramedy television, but it's based on boxing stories by FX Toole. Of course, like all boxing movies, this movie is not about boxing. (If it were, the boxing would be better.) Boxing is a metaphor for the struggle we all face in confronting life's challenges.
It takes a while for Eastwood to warm up to her, naturally, but eventually she wins him over. I think he said she had moxie. |
Eastwood is that timeless classic of cinematic characters: the boxing trainer. Freeman is his friend from way back. They are men who owe one another too much not to be friends. Swank is a Missouri gal scraping by on server's tips and hoping to realize her dream of becoming a contender. It takes a while for Eastwood to warm up to her, naturally, but eventually she wins him over. I think he said she had moxie.
Things move on gradually; Eastwood gives himself 2 hours and 7 minutes to tell his story (you don't hurry a 75-year-old man), but the telling never seems to drag. The characters are so rich and the chemistry so good between the three stars (and a fine supporting cast of misfits and ne'er-do-wells) that you sometimes forget that you're there to watch a movie.
The wheels may grind slowly, but good luck trying to get ahead of them. |
And the wheels may grind slowly, but good luck trying to get ahead of them. Eastwood doesn't telegraph the ending. He sets it up carefully and lets the pieces fall where they may. Two-thirds of the way thru, the film takes a turn that saves itself from becoming a tired sports cliché movie and becomes something special.
There are weaknesses, of course. There are unanswered questions about that plot turn, unnecessarily left open. There is a silly running gag about Eastwood reading poetry in Gaelic. And his character is the "convenient catholic."
People who get into moral dilemmas in the movies are usually Catholic; it gives them someone to discuss their problems with who, unlike a psychiatrist, actually tells them what to do. [paraphrased from Roger Ebert]
But those things don't matter. The story and characters pull us in and make us care about them. The characters are larger than life, but just barely. Million Dollar Baby is one of the best films ever made.
f e e d b a c k
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