Movie Reviews
In saying this, I have just pushed out his last film “Mystic River” from 2003. Where do I find the leeway for that? I find it in the care put into “Million Dollar Baby”.
This is about Frankie (Eastwood), an aging boxing trainer, his friend and co-worker, Scrap (Morgan Freeman), and the girl that changes everything. Frankie and Scrap have known each other for almost too long – having boxed together in their prior lives. But they run a slummy, but successful gym and are very good at what they do.
The girl is Maggie Fitzgerald (Hillary Swank). Maggie is a hillbilly from Missouri who, as Scrap explains it, grew up knowing one thing: she was trash. She waltzes into the gym one day and begins training herself, all the while trying to convince Frankie to train her professionally. He refuses, claiming he doesn’t train “girlies”. But matters change when Frankie’s champion boxer abandons him for a big time manager. Frankie sympathizes with Maggie and agrees to train her.
We learn that Maggie has been working as a waitress since she was 13. She’s 31 now, and as Frankie sees it, starting too late to become a champ. But nonetheless, she keeps it up – training endlessly, even when Scrap has closed down for the night.
The story of “Million Dollar Baby”, in purest form, really has nothing to do with what you’ve just read. In essence this is plainly the story of three people that become more precious to us than your “vintage” characters. We fall in love with them, and for that, I can’t even begin to thank Eastwood for because that is a rare gift.
Paul Haggis wrote the script for this, but it’s based on stories written by F.X. Toole (Jerry Boyd). I can’t describe how wonderful that script is. Haggis' dialogue is like listening to a subtle version of James Whitcomb Riley poetry. It reads with the realism of just two people having a conversation, which is why it works so splendidly with the actors.
I’ve seen Eastwood at work as an actor. He isn’t necessarily known for great performances. Forget that. Eastwood goes beyond his limits, farther than anything he’s ever done before and just acts; acts as though every fiber of his being is on the line. He deserves a nomination (if not a win) from the Academy.
Morgan Freeman, who also narrates the film as he did with “The Shawshank Redemption”, is memorable, yes because of his low resonant voice, but we cannot ignore the fact that Freeman is fantastic. There is a scene that vouches for me when Scrap walks in on some of the trainees beating up on a slow, possibly retarded man they call Danger. Freeman's work there is as good as anything he's ever done.
Hillary Swank is quite simply breathtaking. Her performance is quiet, like the film and like Eastwood and Freeman, but she has the ability to literally make you forget to breath just to be able to hear her talk. Such is the case when Maggie is asking a favor from Frankie.
This story is told in the dark mostly. Even then, shadows lure over the set. It’s not done for looks, and although it could be for some symbolic reasons, to me, this is part of Eastwood’s homage to classic filmmaking, which died so long ago. It was alive and well in a time of films when characters ruled the screen and carried your emotions on their fingertips. They could say a sentence and have you laughing, then say another and have you crying. But none of it was cheap. All of it demanded that you listen that you pay attention, that you become part of the story.
“Million Dollar Baby” makes you apart of its story. It demands that you listen and that you pay attention. While Eastwood’s film is what I would call an emotional powerhouse, it is also an unnaturally involving and a deeply, truly heartbreaking trip. ****
Note: What changes the course of the film I will not even hint at, although my blabbing it can’t even destroy the experience of watching it. But what happens is debatable as to it being right or wrong. The filmmakers, while expressing some sort of opinion, never swing the pendulum one sure way. To some of the characters, they make it seem liberating, to others, they show its devastation. Please understand that my views toward it are that it is most definitely sinful (as the film partially deems it). How it effects you will probably decide what you ultimately think about the film itself. To me, the issue, no matter how detestable, does nothing to ruin the film’s intention, which I did not find to totally glorify the issue.