‘Baby’ worth a million bucks, movie gold
Reel Reflections
"Million Dollar Baby," the latest offering from Hollywood veteran
Clint Eastwood ("Unforgiven") is a masterpiece. This is a movie
that will remind audiences why films are made in the first place.
It’s a film about boxing, but Eastwood uses the film’s theme
of fighting as an allegory for the battles waged in his characters’
lives. The film is about life, perseverance, redemption, loss and love.
It’s about the fights that everyone must battle to follow their dreams
and desires.
Hilary Swank ("Boys Don’t Cry") gives a solid performance
as Maggie Fitzgerald, a white-trash waitress with nothing to her name
but a few rolls of coins and a zest to fight professionally. Maggie has
fought for survival her entire life, battling an indifferent mother and
the death of her father. She has it in her to wage a war against the world
around her, and she does so every night with a worn punching bag at a
dingy gym owned by a cantankerous Frank Dunn, played by Eastwood. Frank
refuses to teach her the ropes of boxing because "Girlie, tough ain’t
enough."
With a little help from the gym janitor, Scraps, played by a magnificent
Morgan Freeman ("The Shawshank Redemption"), Maggie begins to
better her boxing skills. While watching her one night, Frank decides
to take her in, and Maggie promises him that she will become a champion
while under his tutelage.
The premise may, to many, sound like a different spin on the formulaic
underdog-rising-to-fame sports movie. Nothing could be further from the
truth. In its third act, "Million Dollar Baby" takes such an
audacious swing that it knocks its audience flat. Where one might expect
to see a "Rocky" finale, "Million Dollar Baby" offers
something fresh, visceral and heartbreakingly human. The story takes a
wild shift to further illuminate Maggie and Frank’s tangled pasts,
as they form a friendship transcending the boundaries that previously
were set up in sports films.
Swank is stellar in her role, bringing a sweetness and stern tenacity
to the character of Maggie. Eastwood and Freeman also are phenomenal in
their respective roles, and Eastwood’s directing is impeccable. He
also wrote the haunting score to the film, which is full of soft instrumental
strings and beautifully dramatic undertones.
Like all great sports films, "Million Dollar Baby" is about more than the sport it portrays. It’s a celebration of life as rendered through wonderful characterization and direction. It is impossible not to admire its sheer brilliance and haunting splendor. It has been nominated for a slew of Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Best Director. Come Oscar night, it wouldn’t be surprising if this ‘Baby’ walks home with the gold.
"Million Dollar Baby"
Starring: Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman
Running time: 137 mins
Rated: PG-13
Five of five paws
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