Million Dollar Baby Review
by Jerry Saravia (faust668 AT aol DOT com)March 9th, 2005
MILLION DOLLAR BABY (2004)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
Viewed on March 6th, 2005
RATING: Three stars
"Million Dollar Baby" has all the elements of Clint Eastwood's finest work. It is competently
acted and directed, it is beautifully understated, and it has its heart on its sleeve. But, at
its core, we have to deal with a female protagonist who has not been handled well by the director or the screenwriter, and some heavy-handed scenes that scream illogic and inconsistency. Let me explain further.
Clint Eastwood, in one of his better roles in the last ten years, plays Frankie Dunn, an aging
boxing instructor and promoter who owns a boxing gym. He has a former boxer, Scrap (Morgan Freeman), working for him as a janitor. They avoid confronting their past, especially when Frankie used to train Scrap for a title shot where, in his 109nth fight, Scrap lost his sight in one eye after a severe blow to the head.
The boxers in this gym are all male, that is until Maggie (Hilary Swank), a 31-year-old Missouri waitress, shows up and wants to be trained by Frankie. He refuses but Maggie doesn't budge, as she trains every day and works up a sweat past the closing time. Frankie is reluctant to train a girl but is impressed by her zeal for the sport and her guts, despite lacking any real ability to throw a punch. Scrap, in his own quiet manner and ensuing commentary on Frankie's decisions, persuades Frankie to train her. This comes soon after Frankie loses one of his prizefighters to the big-time managers who can grant anyone a title shot.
Maggie vigorously trains. Frankie teaches her how to move her feet, how to punch a bag and how to take a hit. Maggie learns quickly, or so it seems in one of those extended "Rocky" montages, that she blows the competition out of the roof. When she gets in the ring, she knocks out a fighter in the first round. Money and fame are coming in her direction, though this movie wisely avoids the fatal flaws of something like "Rocky V." Eastwood the director is more interested in his characters, their emotions, their own inner flaws, and their guilt.
Having said that, "Million Dollar Baby" has its own flaws in its screenplay by Paul Haggis.
Frankie is a cast iron, wrinkled, steadfast man with specific problems. For one, he is estranged from his daughter, though he has written letters to her for years only to have them returned. He goes to church on a regular basis and has verbal quarrels with Father Horvak (Brain F. O'Byrne) over matters of faith and demigods. The question is why does Frankie even bother with church? Why is he drawn to Maggie? Is she the daughter he never had because of her interest in boxing? The movie curiously avoids asking such questions and assumes we can figure it out. The problem is that Frankie is more of a cursory character - a question mark in the annals of Eastwood's past character incarnations. I learned more about Eastwood's William Munny in "Unforgiven" than I did about Frankie. I don't mind enigmas but I sensed that Frankie's own valued teachings wouldn't allow him anywhere near someone like Maggie. Suddenly, he takes her on, despite her age and lack of experience. Of course, she turns out to be a terrific fighter but this is the result of irony, not depth. Nevertheless, Eastwood lends gravity to the role to stand out.
In contrast, Morgan Freeman seems to embody a fuller character in Scrap. Here is someone who has always stood in the shadows, watching the action unfold as he cleans the toilet seats. He had his past glory and lost it all, squarely sitting in a drab bedroom in the gym. That sense of loss in Scraps is more poignant and moving than anything else in the film.
But the biggest problem is Hilary Swank who, let the hate mail begin, is miscast as Maggie. Did I just say that? Yes, I know she won the Oscar for it. Yes, the character is tough, determined, honest. Swank, however, just seems to embody one facial characteristic - a terrific smile. We see the glory in her eyes and the need to belong to something besides a family surviving on welfare who don't seem to care much about her. In hindsight, we care about her only because she is a female boxer who needs a father figure. Swank never reaches, or is allowed to reach, for any real complexity out of Maggie. And her final scenes will make you wonder what are her real intentions as to her well-being and her demands to Frankie. Swank captures the spirit of Maggie but not the soul. I still think she gave the most forceful, riveting performance of her career in "Boys Don't Cry," just so you know where I stand. It may have helped if the film was not told from Scrap's point-of-view, but rather from Maggie's. What we finally get is a decent performance by Swank but not a great performance.
"Million Dollar Baby" has an ironic title more appropriate to Disney but don't be fooled - this
is not an uplifting "Rocky" clone. It is occasionally powerful and has moments of real truth.
Eastwood and Freeman are often sublime, especially in their own subtle exchanges. Swank is fierce and watchable but not completely believable. As compared to Eastwood's masterful "Mystic River," "Million Dollar Baby" does not plumb the depths of its characters. I suppose I expected more from Eastwood than a film of graceful footnotes and curiously misguided intentions.
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