Clint Eastwood

Hilary Swank

Morgan Freeman

Jay Baruchel

Mike Colter

Lucia Rijker

Brían F. O'Byrne

Anthony Mackie

Margo Martindale

Riki Lindhome

Michael Peña

Benito Martinez

Bruce MacVittie

David Powledge

Joe D'Angerio

Marcus Chait

Tom McCleister

Erica Grant

Naveen

Morgan Eastwood

Jamison Yang

Susan Krebs

Vincent Foster

Steven M. Porter

Ming Lo

Miguel Pérez

Jim Cantafio

Ted Grossman

Ned Eisenberg

Marco Rodríguez

Mark Thomason

Brian T. Finney

Spice Williams-Crosby

Kim Strauss

Kirsten Berman

Jimmy Alioto

Jason Williams

Nina Avetisova

Michael Bentt

Bruce Gerard Brown Jr.

McKay Stewart

Jude Ciccolella

Kimberly Estrada

Sean LoGrasso

Maher McClung

Sean O'Kane

Vladimir Rajčić

Marty Sammon

Robert Maron

Rosine 'Ace' Hatem

Boni Yanagisawa

Christina Cox

Mimi Lesseos

Bridgett Riley

Paul Haggis

Tom Rosenberg

Albert S. Ruddy

David Potaux-Razel

Tom Stern

Joel Cox

Phyllis Huffman

Henry Bumstead

Jack G. Taylor Jr.

Deborah Hopper

Bub Asman

Robert Lorenz

Gary Lucchesi

Bobby Moresco

Erin Carufel

F.X. Toole

Richard C. Goddard

Deena Adair

Nancy Hancock

Tim Moore

Steve Riley

Liz Radley

Darin McCormick-Millett

James D. Tittle

Buddy Van Horn

Michael Cipriano

Gary D. Roach

Kurt Smith

Mable Lawson-McCrary

Stephen S. Campanelli

Bill Coe

Terry Kramer

Pam Cartmel

Michael Muscarella

John Schacht

Gary A. Lee

Charles Saldaña

Merie Weismiller Wallace

Lynda Foote

Carol A. O'Connell

Ann Culotta

Brian Bilson

Kyle Eastwood

James R. Lord

Nancy G. James

Robert Aaron Brown

Paulina Quaranta

Robert Silcock

Michael Sexton

Scooter Perrotta

Charles Ramirez

Dillin Craig

Keith Dillin

Sean Higgins

T. Daniel Scaringi

Jason S. Gondek

Karen Shaw

Juno J. Ellis

Jonathan Fuh

William Cawley

Donald Harris

Lennie Niehaus

David Grimaldi

Walt Martin

Judith M. Brown

Christopher Boyes

Ryan Craig

Donald Murphy

Katie Carroll

Scott M. Anderson

Christine Fegley

William A. Barry III

Nicholas Korda

Thomas J. O'Connell

John T. Cucci

James Ashwill

Brian Magerkurth

Lucy Coldsnow-Smith

Ante Dugandzic

Matthew A. Del Ruth

Doug Wall

Trevor Carroll-Coe

James D. Wickman

Bobby McMahan

Geoffrey Miclat

Mo Henry

Elisa Ann Conant

Rose Mesa

Drama

Million Dollar Baby

Lakeshore Entertainment

Malpaso Productions

Epsilon Motion Pictures

ASR Productions

Warner Bros. Pictures

Switzerland

United States of America

English

Gaeilge

dying and death

transporter

strong woman

stroke of fate

advancement

fight

suicide attempt

boxer

training

tragedy

female protagonist

brutality

boxing trainer

unlikely friendship

female boxing

knockout

euthanasia

determination

***Female “Rocky” with a downbeat and contradictory close***

Released in 2004 and directed by Clint Eastwood, “Million Dollar Baby” stars Eastwood as a cantankerous boxing trainer who owns a working class gym in Los Angeles, which is maintained by one of his former boxers, the narrator of the story (Morgan Freeman). A waitress from the sticks of Missouri (Hilary Swank) shows up and asks that Frankie (Eastwood) train her, which he refuses to do because she’s too old at 32 and he “doesn’t train girls,” probably because he had an unexplained falling out with his daughter years earlier. Eventually he begrudgingly agrees.

The bulk of the film is basically a female version of “Rocky” (1976), except that I prefer the potent drama in this one. The three main characters are well fleshed-out with an all-around reverent tone, not to mention an occasional bit of mild amusement. Frankie and Maggie (Swank) slowly develop a father/daughter-type relationship and it’s touching.

The third act, however, takes a left turn that is seriously downbeat. It departs from sports movie formula with a message that contradicts everything the first two acts pushed, which is inexplicable. Sure, I ‘get’ the point: A certain person basically sacrifices everything to do what’s (supposedly) best for the situation and honor the will of a dearly loved soul. Nevertheless, it’s a dark turn that leaves a sour taste because it refutes the positive message of the first two-thirds of the story.

The film runs 2 hours, 12 minutes and was shot in Los Angeles.

GRADE: B-/C+

Unreal! I didn't expect <em>'Million Dollar Baby'</em> to be so astonishingly brilliant.

I've said it many a time before but for full context, I do not read up about films before watching them - aside from making sure the film isn't part of a franchise, checking the run time and seeing the genre - so I was expecting this to be a cliché-filled, but still great, sports flick. It's so much more than that.

It's way more deeper and has an everlasting impact that I hadn't anticipated. Even across the opening chunk I was predicating the obvious cliché ending, but as the film progresses and, especially, as the final portion rolls around it just absorbed my total attention - I was fully engrossed... hook, line, and sinker. Some film!

The cast are simply stunning. Clint Eastwood gives an absolutely fantastic performance, Hilary Swank is truly sensational - especially at the end, damn - and Morgan Freeman is Morgan Freeman; what an actor and what a voice, using him as narrator was a great move. Elsewhere, and though less dramatically, Jay Baruchel, Anthony Mackie, Margo Martindale and Michael Peña also feature interestingly.

It's quite the journey the film takes you on, which I just found utterly enthralling to watch unfold. Perfect pacing, perfect acting. I loved watching every second of it and will undoubtedly be revisiting it.

I noted days ago that I was rather surprised to learn that Eastwood's <em>'<a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/unforgiven/" rel="nofollow">Unforgiven</a>'</em> had been so heavily acclaimed, on this occasion with this 2004 film I am the complete opposite. I don't care much for awards et al., but I am delighted to see all involved receive their props for this. Chapeau!

Marvellous, just marvellous.

The Movie Mob

**Million Dollar Baby is an extremely well-done film that takes an abrupt turn to deal with incredibly sobering subjects that are definitely not what I thought I signed up for.**

I know it’s supposedly a masterpiece, and I will lose some cred for saying this, but Million Dollar Baby was a dreadful movie. I spent the first half of the film falling in love with the hopeful, talented, and inspiring Maggie Fitzgerald and her redeeming of the cranky and lonely trainer, Frankie Dunn. But when the second half takes its giant turn, the story shifts from an endearing sports narrative about overcoming opposition and redemption to hopelessness and agony. Clint Eastwood directed a powerful story with impressive mastery, but the subject matter robbed the film of any enjoyment. For many, Million Dollar Baby deserved Best Picture at the Oscars. For me, I wish The Incredibles had claimed that victory.

Million Dollar Baby (2004) Official Trailer - Hilary Swank, Clint Eastwood Movie HD

Million Dollar Baby Trailer

Million Dollar Baby( 2004)

Beyond his silence, there is a past. Beyond her dreams, there is a feeling. Beyond hope, there is a memory. Beyond their journey, there is a love.

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A review by Wuchak

Written by Wuchak on Wed Dec 19 2018

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