Million Dollar Baby

[Centerfield]

First the good...it’s the classic underdog boxing story about a kid from nowhere making it big. Clint Eastwood is terrific as the grizzled, stubborn coach with his own baggage who wants nothing to do with training a girl, but eventually gets charmed/guilted into doing it, Morgan Freeman is great as the washed up fighter who now works for Clint emptying spit buckets, and Hillary Swank’s portrayal of the lead character is endearing at times and fist-pumpingly exciting at others. There are cool sideplots too, like Freeman’s recount of how he held on too long at the end of his career, the kid who trains at the gym that clearly has no talent, and Clint’s curious habit of going to church and taunting the priest. And of course, Morgan Freeman narrates the movie which automatically makes any movie half a star better. Sometimes I think Freeman could read the dictionary out loud and make it sound compelling.

In any case, as the movie rolls along with fantastic fight scene after fight scene, you find yourself rooting for Swank like these were real fights. I was having such a good time, I started thinking whether this movie might crack my list of “Top Five Movies I Ended Up Liking Even Though My Wife Picked Them Out.�

[Theoldmole]

Saw it too long ago to discuss it scene for scene, but I give it a 9, and the second half worked really well for me.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Don't see Love Actually. It was freakishly depressing for other reasons.

[seawolf17]

I loved Love Actually, actually.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Hey, wow, really? damn, motha, no way.

[Vic Sage]

i, too, am not crazy about movies that shift so radically.
and i, too, hate movie-of-the-week cliches meant to manipulate us.

but i don't think MILLION DOLLAR BABY did either of those things.

The movie is about overcoming obstacles, not giving up, recognizing what is of value, reexamining notions of success and failure. That it starts as a standard genre movie and then moves beyond it is part of its brilliance, not its flaw.

Its a "boxing movie", but that's certainly not ALL it is. It's tragic and sad, but i wasn't depressed by it. [SPOILER WARNING] I found nobility in her indomitabiliy, and in her final choice. And it was a great sacrifice for him to meet her last request... she had become his daughter and he had to do something for and to her that he'd never forgive himself for, but he takes on the burden of being "damned" out of his love for her. His suffering enobles him, too, like the religious icon he still reveres (despite his friendly provocation of his priest). [END WARNING]

Not at all depressing for me. Sad, revelatory and redemptive, perhaps, but not depressing.

It's certainly one of Clint's best movies (which, by definition, puts it high on any list of great recent films), and it's one capable of provoking STRONG emotional reaction... which it did to our friend, CF, despite his protestations to the contrary.

i gave it 8 ********

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

I didn't see this flick but I liked CF's review. I also liked Edgy;s review of Love Actually, which I committed to memory and couldn;t agree with any more.

"Sucked, actually."

[Guest ABG]

I'm not someone who really understands the technical side of filmmaking, but for whatever reason this movie came across as by far the best film I've ever seen from that standpoint. The lighting, sound, etc were really impressive even to a layman.