Director Clint Eastwood rises to top of game with ‘Million Dollar Baby’
At an age when most people are winding down, retiring and working on their golf scores, 74-year-old Clint Eastwood is at the top of his game. With “Million Dollar Baby,” Eastwood, who won an Oscar as best director for “Unforgiven,” uses his no-nonsense filmmaking approach to tell the story of a poor young woman, Maggie (Hilary Swank of “Boys Don’t Cry”), who dreams of going the distance in the boxing ring. Film fans, however, shouldn’t expect a simplistic “Rocky”-like approach.
Thanks to terrific performances by Eastwood, Swank and – as an aging ex-boxer with a pragmatic view of the world – Morgan Freeman (“Unforgiven”) and a realistic plot twist that raises issues about love, dignity, devotion and fate, the PG-13 picture becomes something quite extraordinary.
As “Million Dollar Baby” begins, Maggie, a 31-year-old Missouri waitress from a dirt-poor family, approaches manager Frankie Dunn (Eastwood) about showing her the ropes and teaching her to box at The Hit Pit, his rundown Los Angeles gym. The gruff Dunn, a redemption-seeking Roman Catholic who attends mass each morning and peppers his parish priest with questions about spirituality, immediately dismisses her with the terse line, “I don’t train girls.”
But he grows to admire her strength and commitment as she spends hours punching bags on a daily basis in addition to her physically demanding waitress job.
Due to a past incident, Dunn has become too cautious when managing boxers, a point his only friend, Scrap (Freeman), enjoys pointing out. His defense mechanisms eventually weaken as he grows emotionally close to Maggie. She reminds him of his estranged daughter, who ignores the letters he continually sends. (Eastwood also explores a father/daughter dynamic in his enjoyable 1997 thriller, “Absolute Power.”)
That attachment strengthens as Dunn teaches Maggie the tricks of the boxing trade and then watches her become a lordess of the ring as she takes everything her opponents can dish out before delivering a knockout blow.
But Eastwood deftly provides viewers with an emotional sucker punch that takes “Million Dollar Baby” out of the fight world and transports the narrative to an even tougher arena. At that point, the lean and mean film magically transforms into a compelling work best described as one from the heart.
FILM REVIEW
“Million Dollar Baby”
Grade: A
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman and Hilary Swank; screenplay by Paul Haggis, based upon a short story from “Rope Burns” by F.X. Toole; produced by Eastwood, Albert S. Ruddy, Tom Rosenberg and Paul Haggis; directed by Eastwood.
Running Time: 133 minutes.
Parental Guide: PG-13 rating (violent boxing scenes, adult themes, profanity)