Million Dollar Baby (2004)

Directed by: Clint Eastwood | 137 minutes | drama, sports | Actors: Hilary Swank, Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Jay Baruchel, Christina Cox, Mike Colter, Lucia Rijker, Brian F. O’Byrne, Anthony Mackie, Margo Martindale, Riki Lindhome, Michael Pena, Benito Martinez, Bruce MacVittie, David Powledge , Joe D’Angerio

Eastwood has nothing to complain about. Last year his ‘Mystic River’ received critical acclaim and many Oscar nominations, and this year his latest film follows the same trend. His boxing drama ‘Million Dollar Baby’ has been hailed as a masterpiece and is once again in the running for several major Oscars. Despite his advanced age (of seventy-four years), the director/actor is anything but shunned. On the contrary: Clint is hot, and his contemplative dramas are very popular with audiences and critics alike.

As with ‘Mystic River’, the main strength of ‘Million Dollar Baby’ is the characters and the acting. Eastwood joins forces here, just like in ‘Unforgiven’, with Morgan Freeman. Both act very well, as can be expected from these veterans. The bond and struggle between these two old friends is often touching and amusing to watch. Freeman provides commentary to the story, and while not all of his comments are equally interesting, his voiceover provides a pleasant anchor. He knows how to emotionally bind the viewer to the story through his warm, captivating voice (just like earlier in ‘The Shawshank Redemption’, for example). The biggest attraction, however, is lead actress Hilary Swank, who knows how to get a lot out of this, initially somewhat simple, role. Her optimistic, persistent nature, and the pain that her character harbors at the same time, are very well expressed. She often knows how to say much more than words could through a smile. Her boxing scenes also come out well.

It is fortunate that we as viewers develop such a strong bond with her, because the story itself generally has little added value. Most of the film differs in little from the average boxing or sports film, modeled on the “American Dream”. The underlying drama that should make it clear that it is about the people and their relationships and not so much about the sport in question has been applied according to the book. Interestingly, about the same amount of attention is paid to the trainer as to the boxer (although this has already been done in ‘Rocky V’, for example), but otherwise all the clichés are there. Swank must be a poor, hopeless girl, in order to rise to great heights. Here she is literally reduced to “(white) trash”, and she has a stereotypical “trailer park” family. Furthermore, she has no father, while Frankie in turn has lost contact with his daughter. The ideal set-up, therefore, for a future bond between the two, whose characters naturally clash at the beginning of the film. Naturally, Frankie decides to train the determined Maggie. Soon she is ripe for battle in the ring and we as viewers are treated to an entertaining montage of her first run of victories.

She gets so good that at some point she will compete against a world champion named Billie “The Blue Bear” (our very own Lucia Rijker). This one comes on in traditional villain mode: with menacing music and low angle shots of her hostile face. Since she must be morally inferior to our heroine as a villain, she pulls off some dirty, illegal tricks, which she gets rid of with a mere warning. So far it is a reasonably successful, if somewhat clichéd, film that is largely kept together by the actors. It’s the final act, following the thrilling fight with “The Blue Bear,” where the film becomes more than just a marginally above-average genre film. The interesting deepening that takes place in this part of the film between (mainly) Frankie and Maggie adds the necessary extra quality and content to the film and ensures that the film really lingers after leaving the cinema.