The premiere of MILLION DOLLAR BABY was an understated, calm affair. Held on the Warner Bros lot, those that were invited enjoyed drinks, appetizers and conversation before being seated. Then Clint Eastwood gave a speech, Arnold Schwarzenegger & Maria Shriver were given a lot of attention when they entered, and finally we all relaxed and enjoyed the movie. I say “enjoyed” because MILLION DOLLAR BABY was a breath of fresh air when compared to the awful ALEXANDER and the fun but vacuous OCEAN’S TWELVE.
After winning acclaim for his previous picture, MYSTIC RIVER, Clint Eastwood does even better with this tight, entertaining, heartfelt, and almost minimalist movie about an old trainer and a hillbilly woman who longs to be a boxer. That description might bring KARATE KID to mind, or other clichéd films about teacher and student. But don’t be fooled, MILLION DOLLAR BABY dwarf’s other pictures of its kind with brilliant performances, fine writing, and a stark look into life’s triumphs and disasters.
Hilary Swank is wonderful as Maggie, a woman from a white trash family who has been a waitress since she was thirteen. Seeing boxing as her way out of the hell that is her life, she begs Frankie (Eastwood) to train her, not knowing that he’s also damaged goods – Frankie’s blames himself for the injuries Scrap (played by the always wonderful Morgan Freeman) received in a fight many years earlier. Frankie rejects her, Maggie trains on her own and keeps begging him to take her under wing, and finally some very deep, very moving relationships are created as the inner pain and despair of all three characters burst upon the screen.
Some have called MILLION DOLLAR BABY a masterpiece. And it has an excellent chance of getting nominated for various Academy Awards (acting, screenplay, picture). Unfortunately it also has one tragic, glaring flaw that could have been easily corrected. I won’t say what this is here, but if you imagine a chess movie where the actors move Bishops like Rooks and the King like a Knight, you’ll begin to understand the gravity of the error. To ruin this wonderful movie with such an inane blunder is one thing, but to see both Eastwood (whom I thought understood boxing) and Lucia Rijker (She is, in my opinion, the finest female boxer in the world. She both acted in MILLION DOLLAR BABY and also served as the movie’s boxing advisor.) allowing this to occur simply boggles my mind. In fact, it is an insult to boxers and boxing.
MILLION DOLLAR BABY is a dark film that shows us many aspects of the human condition: ignorance, desperation, fear, common decency, and desire. Too many American movies seem afraid to portray real people, but the three main characters here are as real as they come. I particularly liked the fact that the end didn’t degenerate into some sort of politically correct, moral swamp, or descend into hysteria. Eastwood’s character faces a hopeless situation and does what needs to be done, with no worry about the personal ramifications – a rare case of real moral integrity (a vastly different thing than the artificial, often manipulative, morals so often hoisted upon us by society or religion).
If you’re willing to forget the above mentioned “hiccup,” then the emotionally powerful MILLION DOLLAR BABY is likely the best (American) movie of 2004.
