Million Dollar Baby – A-

Released in 2005 to critical acclaim, Million Dollar Baby
premiered with nary any prerelease hype. The film went on to be
nominated for 7 Oscars and ended up winning 4 of them, one for Best
Picture of 2005. However, the Academy who hands out these awards is not
right all too often and many times they snub more deserving films out
of the big award, but is it possible that they were correct this time?

Weathered boxing trainer Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood) loses his best
fighter right before he wins the championship, but an eager female
boxer named Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank) asks him to take her under
his wing. Although he refuses to train "girls," his long-time friend
and gym custodian Eddie (Morgan Freeman) convinces him to help her out,
creating an inseparable bond between the three.

Clint Eastwood produces, directs, scores and acts in this movie and
does all three superbly. First though, the acting. Eastwood turns in
another truly wonderful performance as Frankie. Everything is black and
white in his eyes. It's not about "getting your shot" or at least
making a run for the title. Nothing less than winning that fight is
worth it to Frankie. It's simply not worth the pain to get there and
lose. Everything
is black and white. Eastwood does a marvelous job of playing this up
though. His facial expressions say what he doesn’t need to. You know
just by looking at his face what he feels. Morgan Freeman’s character,
besides being Frankie’s friend, is the narrator of this movie. Freeman
has such a great voice that he can make anything sound like art. But he
truly excels here. The biggest problem though with the narration is
that sometimes it comes in at unneeded points and it seems somewhat
overbearing at times. It isn’t a glaring problem though, rather a
personal qualm with the picture. But, this is clearly Hilary Swank’s
movie and she deserves that Best Actress Oscar. The age of her
character is a bit surprising (she’s 32), since you might expect a
younger woman to be breaking into the spot, but she has a fascinating
character arc, going from the bubbly enthusiasm that hides a dark past
to forming a true bond with Frankie as she proves herself in the ring.
This is what is particularly impressive about Swank’s performance; she
got into amazing physical shape and did all her own boxing scenes. She
is so convincing as this character that it makes it so much easier for
us to believe in her and in turn, make the ending that much more
powerful.

There's a scene near the beginning in which Frankie tells Eddie, to buy
the cheap, generic bleach to clean up around the gym. Eddie tells
Frankie that the cheap stuff doesn't smell as good as the real Clorox
bleach. "Bleach," Frankie says in turn, "smells like bleach." This is a
line that, in any other movie, would have probably been meant for a
small chuckle or a throwaway. Here, however, that very conversation
about bleach tells more about the transformation that takes place
within Frankie Dunn throughout the film than any other moment in the
film.

There was a lot of controversy that surrounded the film upon its
release having to do with Frankie’s transformation as a person. Whether
or not you agree or disagree with what Frankie (and, essentially,
Maggie) do near the end of the film does not make one iota of a
difference. Everyone has their opinion and that's fine, but the more
important question is whether or not you believe that Frankie and
Maggie would have made the decision that they make. It's a difficult
question, to be sure, but the way that this film sets up Frankie and
Maggie's characters throughout the first half of the film, the answer
to that question becomes strikingly clear as a resounding "yes." It is
totally believable that these characters would do exactly what they do
near the end of the film. That's the thing that I find so baffling
about all the controversy. Million Dollar Baby
isn't preaching to you. It's not telling you to act in this way, were
you ever in the situation, but it's simply showing you what Frankie and
Maggie do. It is absolutely true to their characters at that point in
the film, and for that, everyone involved with the film should be
applauded for finding the truth in these people.

Eastwood composes the film also but the music isn’t very apparent,
which is not a bad thing for a film like this. There’s no memorable
theme to go with the movie nor are there moments of swelling music to
heighten the drama because there doesn’t need to be. The images you are
seeing don’t need to be heightened or added to because they do a
tremendous job of conveying that feeling by themselves. The slow music
certainly helps though.

The pacing is incredibly slow but not one minute throughout the film’s
132 minute running time does it drag. None of the film’s slow buildup
prepares you for the film’s powerful third act. This doesn't mean that
the film isn't visually interesting, as Eastwood's use of older
filmmaking techniques makes it seem like a movie straight out of the
'60s or '70s, while the creative use of lighting and the camerawork
helps give it a very distinctive mood. The film never seems dated,
though, thanks to the subject matter of women's boxing that keeps it
firmly set in the modern day. Those action-packed boxing scenes are
also shot so inventively that it makes them look better than many of
the previous boxing dramas.

So yes, believe all the hype you’ve heard about Million Dollar Baby, it’s really that
good. Don’t be confused though, this is not a boxing movie. It is a
human drama set in the world of boxing. The main focus is the strong
bond between Frankie and Maggie, not the next match. Million Dollar Baby
is very much deserving of its Best Picture Oscar win and further proves
why Clint Eastwood is one of America’s finest filmmakers. He has made a
truly brilliant masterpiece.