Million Dollar Baby

Released 2004
Stars Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman
Directed by Clint Eastwood

Clint Eastwood's "Million Dollar Baby" is a masterpiece, pure and simple, deep and true. It tells the story of an aging fight trainer and a hillbilly girl who thinks she can be a boxer. It is narrated by a former boxer who is the trainer's best friend. But it's not a boxing movie. It is a movie about a boxer. What else it is, all it is, how deep it goes, what emotional power it contains, I cannot suggest in this review, because I will not spoil the experience of following this story into the deepest secrets of life and death. This is the best film of the year.

It is a dark picture overall: a lot of shadows, many night scenes, characters who seem to recede into private fates. It is a "boxing movie" in the sense that it follows Maggie's career and has several fight scenes. She wins from the beginning, but that's not the point; "Million Dollar Baby" is about a woman determined to make something of herself, and a man who doesn't want to do anything for this woman, and will finally do everything.

Summary by Roger Ebert

It's always exciting to watch a down and out person who has nothing going for them learn to do something better than anyone else, and this film is no exception. "Million Dollar Baby" has the obvious comparisons to "Rocky," but it tells its own story. Maggie becomes Mike Tyson for a while as she immediately steamrolls the lowest levels of boxers, but then she becomes careless and doesn't protect herself any pays the price. I greatly enjoyed this story about the cautious trainer who was estranged from his daughter and found a substitute. On the other side, Maggie found a replacement for her father, who was the only fond memory of her life. 

Unfortunately, I had heard about a controversial ending that had lots of people upset, and that had me wondering what tragedy was going to come out of the blue. I have to say nothing came out of the blue. I expected Maggie to get hurt, but maybe not that badly. Then Frankie had the decision about what was the best way to support her when she needed his help the most. It's the basic question about euthanasia. Is it better to end your loved one's suffering or help them through the first years of the injury until they have a chance to find a way to enjoy their new life? There's no easy answer to that, and I think each situation is different. The film does an admirable job of avoiding the melodrama and letting it happen in a way that seemed natural. In Maggie's case, I think both solutions could have been right or wrong, and the film handled the situation with grace. --Bill Alward, July 16, 2005