“Million Dollar Baby” (Warner Brothers)
Clint Eastwood, God bless him, may he live to be a hundred and ten. And may he continue to get better and better with each year that passes, as he has done so far. His latest movie, “Million Dollar Baby,” which he directed and in which he stars, is his best movie ever.
On the surface the movie looks like a boxing film but that is only the canvas upon which Eastwood creates a story of three “losers” who unite to become a winning team. Eastwood plays Frankie, the owner of a gym and a boxing manager. Hilary Swank is Maggie, a too old fighter who wants to be a contender. And Morgan Freeman is Eddie, a man who was a fighter and still remembers what it meant.
Each of these three contributes to the betterment of the others, and each grows and develops individually. As the rounds of the movie progress so does the audience’s involvement with the story and the characters. At the end of the film you are so absorbed by the story that you hate it must end.
Eastwood can draw performances out of actors that others could not. He proved it with “Mystic River” and his talent is even more pronounced in this film. What he does with Swank is nothing short of amazing, and this is taking nothing away from her own talent. It appears she put herself completely in Eastwood’s hands and it paid off.
Freeman seems to have dredged up all the world-weariness he could find and projects it with force and passion. He is the moral center of the movie and his role could have been too sweet to be enjoyed. But Freeman gives Eddie enough humanity to make the character real and believable.
Then there is grizzled Eastwood once again playing a quiet man but one who makes himself heard. He has become so craggy and so chiseled that he seems to be made of granite. Yet the heart of the man still shines through and that is what gives “Million Dollar Baby” its extra punch.
The film is rated PG-13 for profanity and violence.
“Million Dollar Baby” starts out as being a “Rocky-ette” type of film but it is so much more. The twists start about midway through the movie and have you on the emotional ropes by the time it reaches its ending. Eastwood, Swank and Freeman have never been better and this movie is certainly one of the best of 2004.
I scored “Million Dollar Baby” an underpriced 8 out of 10.
