Million Dollar Baby Recommended
After watching Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby it has come to me that Clint Eastwood may perhaps be Hollywood's greatest director. I have come to this conclusion because Eastwood's has consistently shown (Unforgiven, Mystic River) despite his advanced age has demonstrated that he can produced good quality films without relying on fancy computer imagery, high priced box office stars or mega budgets. What you get with Eastwood is good performances and a well directed story.
With a career that has spanned over 40 years, Eastwood continues to improve on his craft as a director who continually brings his films in ahead of schedule and under budget. Eastwood's latest offering is Million Dollar Baby which is a story about a female boxer Maggie (Hillary Swank) who not only finds the person in herself but also bring out the person in Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood). Veteran actor the Morgan Freeman (Shawshank Redemption) is also along for the ride as the retired boxer Eddie Scrap-Iron Dupree.
The performances by Swank and Eastwood are perhaps their best performances to date. Swank won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 2000 for Boys Don't Cry could perhaps win the award again showing that her win for Boys Don't Cry was no fluke. Eastwood on the other hand might have a more difficult time convincing the Academy of his Best Actor merits this year because of the positive buzz surrounding Leonardo Decaprio's role as Howard Hughes in the biography The Aviator. Nevertheless, this year Eastwood could get recognized for the second time by the Academy with a nomination for Best Actor. Morgan Freeman once again has put in a decent well acted performance as Eddie Scrap-Iron Dupree who essentially narrates the story.
Eastwood may not receive the Best Actor award but he could win the best director award for the second time, his only Oscar win was for Best Directing for Unforgiven. In Million Dollar Baby Eastwood never lets a scene go on too long, every scene he puts on screen is hold value in moving the story along and brings to life what it would really be like to be in the ring with Maggie. The boxing scenes are well constructed and filmed very well as you really feel you are in on the action. One of the things I have always liked about Clint Eastwood films is that he only uses computer effects when absolutely warranted. The only film that comes to mind that extensively uses CGI is Space Cowboys. In Million Dollar Baby every thing is real. The only obstacle in Eastwood's way for Best Director maybe Martin Scorsese's direction in The Aviator because he has been overlooked on four other occasions.
The final piece of Million Dollar Baby which I would like to mention is the score by Clint Eastwood himself. Eastwood is not usually known for his composing talents but most people may never realize that Million Dollar Baby was Eastwood's tenth film which he has composed. The score sets the mood to the film and adds to the construction of almost every scene.
In conclusion, I highly recommend Million Dollar Baby which could perhaps be Clint Eastwood's best film. I am still not sure if Million Dollar Baby is better than Unforgiven but I guess only time will tell. Million Dollar Baby deep down is more than a boxing movie and to elaborate on what I am talking about would ruin the film. One thing I can say is that Million Dollar Baby does not have a twist but instead a very powerful turning point which will not only keep you thinking afterward, but will keep you thinking for many days after.
Runtime: 137 minutes
Warner Brothers
Rated PG-13
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