OSCAR SPOTLIGHT

MILLION DOLLAR BABY
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank
Directed by: Clint Eastwood

Visit the official website here!

Rating: 4.5 (out of 5)

Wow. Every once in a while, a movie comes along and just floors you. It pummels you with a furious 1-2 punch. It rope-a-dopes you. It…uh…oh! It knocks you out…

Okay, I'm not really up on my boxing clichés. In fact, I'm not really a big fan of the sport or movies about the sport. If I want to watch grown men pummel each other, I'll watch my beloved Maple Leafs take on the hated Ottawa Senators. If I want to see girls pummel each other, I'll go to one of those bridal warehouse clearing sales when the doors open and watch them all duke it out over the price-reduced Dior gown. You haven't SEEN violent until you've seen bargain-hunting brides-to-be. It would make Mike Tyson cringe.

God forbid you ever had to walk a mile in his shoes / 'Cause then you really might know what it's like to sing the blues.

In fact, I really had no intention of seeing this movie at all. I'll admit to a certain curiosity about it once everybody I knew started raving about it, but never beyond a "Well, maybe I'll review it on DVD" attitude.

Well, I was wrong…dead wrong. Million Dollar Baby blew me away in almost every single aspect…from the fantastic performances to Eastwood's expert direction.

But there's one thing you won't get from this review…and that's spoilers. See, there's a small-but-vocal contingent of people who object to a certain element of this story, because it doesn't follow their personal moral belief structure. As a result, these fucking IDIOTS are busy not only decrying the movie, but leaking crucial plot details - or "spoilers" - in an attempt to ruin the movie for people. The thinking is, with the surprise plot development leaked, less people will want to see the movie, and the ones who do see it will wind up enjoying it less. Two high-profile fucktards include Rush Limbaugh and Michael Medved (although, to be fair, they've been fucktards for years…it's nothing new.) These people are inconsiderate douchenozzles…basically, they don't care if you agree with them or not…they want to ruin the movie for EVERYONE, just like the pricks in the theatre who talk through the whole thing or yap on the fucking phone. I'd like to assure you that this won't happen here, and would like to take this opportunity to invite Limbaugh and Medved to choke on my hairy beanbag. Thank you.

"Ok doll...don't think of this boxer as a fighter...just pretend that she's Rush Limbaugh. Then beat him until he NEEDS those painkillers..."

The movie stars Eastwood who - in a departure from his normal performance - plays a grizzled, world-weary man. In this case, he's Frankie Dunn…who used to be one of the best "cut men" in boxing. Now, he just runs a seedy gym and manages a promising young fighter. Generally, he has no friends to speak of, other than his assistant Eddie "Scrap Iron" Dupris (Morgan Freeman). Everyone else more or less gets held at arm's length.

He does feel a certain closeness with his fighter, but he tends to be over-protective. He won't give the kid a shot at a title fight, insisting that he's not ready yet. Unfortunately, he's been saying that for so long that the fighter up and leaves him in favour of someone else. This leaves him with a crappy gym inhabited by crappy fighters, a half-blind assistant, and…actually, that's it.

Then Maggie Fitzgerald (Swank) walks in the door. She's a low-level fighter herself, and more or less begs Frankie to train her. He turns her down flatly. She reacts pretty much by shrugging and working out anyway. But she's also pretty tenacious, and keeps after Frankie. And Clint being Clint…well, he scowls and barks at her a lot.

"Oooh...look at how tough Clint is. Look at me...I'm shaking!"

One person who does see potential in this chick fighter is Dupris, who lets her work out after the gym closes. He also slips her some decent equipment on the side, seeing as she's too poor to afford much on her own.

Yeah, that's the thing with Maggie…she's a hillbilly with a capital HILL. She's got a southern drawl straight out of your average episode of Cops or Jerry Springer. Her diet consists of food leftovers from the restaurant she waits at. But she's determined, and none of this bothers her…she's always got a smile on her face, and she won't stop training herself…boxing is pretty much all she lives for.

Finally, she wears Frankie down until he agrees to train her…but not manage her. Her natural talent and single-minded drive make her a quick study. I mean, this girl is DRIVEN…if I had half the drive and ambition of Maggie, I'd be reviewing alongside Roger Ebert by now. Or, at the very least, I'd probably get off my couch more.

"Now this next one is going to be the shadow of a pretty butterfly..."

We learn a lot about both Frankie and Maggie as they train and get a few fights in. Frankie is nursing at least one emotional wound, and we also learn where his over-protective nature comes from. We also learn more about Maggie, although it is slightly unclear where her generally positive disposition comes from. If I'd had her past, I'd be crankier than a drug-addicted swinger in rural Utah.

There is much more to this story than boxing. Frankie, Dupris, and Maggie are all very genuine characters, and you can't help but liking all three of them instantly. It's also much funnier in its first half than I expected. Eastwood and Freeman have incredible banter with each other, and Maggie's more than a match for anyone who gives her shit…either physically or verbally.

"Oh for the love of...the EAR! Work the EAR! Eat the EAR, goddamnit!"

It's really hard to discuss this movie in a great deal of detail without giving a lot away. But suffice it to say it's about more than just boxing. When the Thing happens, the movie changes gears completely and becomes utterly heart-wrenching. At times, I was weeping openly…and I'd already KNOWN what was going to happen.

It's easy to pigeonhole Eastwood The Actor here. After all, the character isn't significantly different than many of his others. But Frankie is more complicated than most of those other roles. Eastwood the Director allows Eastwood the Actor to do something I haven't seen a lot of, and that's take some chances with his performance. Sure, for the most part he's gruff and cantankerous, but we get to see his soul as well. I've always loved Eastwood the Actor, but this is by far his finest performance, in my opinion…which is saying a lot.

Eastwood the Director is in top form as well. He's always had a visual style that has stood out for me, and it's still here. There is a lot of subtle lighting and shadows at work, almost like he's painting the film in dark, somber shades. He also allows himself and his fellow actors to react a lot…at times, the dialogue in Million Dollar Baby has more pauses than a Pinter play. But overall, it works brilliantly.

"So...Morgan...do you like...stuff?"

I'd have never thought that I would see Hilary Swank pull out a performance as good as Boys Don't' Cry. Actually, after seeing her in Insomnia, I thought she may have been a one-trick pony. But she is absolutely brilliant here. She's generally upbeat, but she can be hurt, and Maggie the character can't always hide it. Whenever someone treats her badly, you just want to throttle them. Swank's performance is so perfect and real, you find yourself wanting to protect her as much as Frankie does. Not many people can pull that off.

Oh, and she's also RIPPED. Holy crap…she put on 19 pounds of muscle to play this part, and you can tell. I'd never even go NEAR a ring with her. Her boxing technique is solid, too. I'd be willing to bet that she could hold her own in a ring with Leila Ali by the end of this picture.

And Morgan Freeman is…well, Morgan Freeman. I've always felt that he was one of the classiest actors around, and he does it again here. His specialty is quiet dignity…and he's got it here again. Unfortunately, I've seen this performance from him before. It's still brilliant…but I was just more taken with it when it was in The Shawshank Redemption.

"Hey...they printed my letter! 'Dear Penthouse Forum: I'm an older, African-American actor who never gets the respect he deserves...I always thought these letters were fake, until I had an experience recently that changed my mind...'"

Is this Best Picture material? Absolutely. I'd have to give it a tiny little edge over The Aviator. Scorcese's movie was technically flawless, but Million Dollar Baby has heart and emotion to go with it. The only real problem - if you can call it that - is it occasionally feels AGGRESSIVELY emotional…like it won't be happy until it wrings every last tear from you. An example is Maggie's white-trash family…the movie has them as just a shade TOO white-trashy and selfish. By the end, they play a little too stereotypical and ignorant for me. But overall, that's an incredibly minor complaint.

Million Dollar Baby is brilliant, and deserves each and every one of its Oscar nominations. Just do me two favours…1) bring a couple of hankies, and 2) if you disagree with the turn it takes, shut up about it. Nobody wants to hear it.

|