One word: elegant.

Million Dollar Baby is one of the greatest films of the decade. It turns out that Clint was just warming up with Mystic River. And while the former Oscar nominee was plauged with some story problems and an unsatisfying resolution, Million Dollar Baby, thankfully suffers from... well... nothing. The film is near perfect.

The film is about a 31/32 year old boxer, Maggie, played flawlessly by Hillary Swank who pushers her way into a small boxing gym owned by trainer Frankie (Eastwood) and Eddie (Morgan Freeman). Frankie is somewhat obsessed with getting his title shot and is on the verge of retirement after his main shot at the title goes off with another manager. That's when Maggie enters the picture.

Maggie, an almost destitute "white trash" girl comes in. Eddie sees the heart in her, and gives her a shot, long enough to interest Frankie. Saying anything more about the film would risk ruining how these characters lives start unspooling. Eastwood deftly picks small character moments that propel all three of his mains (and Freeman is not a supporting character here) forward to the conclusion which will shape all three perminently.

Freeman gives his best performance since Shawshank Redemption. He is never a supporting player even when he is put in that position. The scenes between he and Eastwood (especially when talking about socks!) are insanely brilliant, and only matched in recent years in dignity by seeing Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart act with each other and Ian McKellen and Christopher Lee spar.

Eastwood is also fantastic, an unmoveable brick of a man who seems to distance himself from anything that matters to mask some pain and guilt that is not fully and completely explained (and that's a good thing!)

But it's Swank who gives her fearless performance as Maggie which is the center of the film. I can't talk about what happens around here... it's just too good.

Million Dollar Baby's conclusion is one for the books and there were matchs (both boxing and non-boxing scenes) are so satisfying that they had people literally clapping and chearing in my audience. It also had grown men sniffing and moving uncomfortably in their seats.

There's nothing more to say, enjoy.

I can't wait to see this film.

Million Dollar Baby is a must see film. I was riveted watching this movie. In an era of lackluster movies and cookie-cutter film making, it is refreshing to see a quality film that distinguishes itself as a sure contender for an Oscar nod.

The character portrayals by Morgan Freeman, Eastwood and Hillary Swank was just incredible. The storyline was well developed and the plot twisted in directions that bucked conventional apple-pie/tidy endings. This was a "real" movie, it tugs at emotions without trying! Most significantly, this is an inspiring movie that will motivate people to remain steadfast in achieving their life goals.

If a person leaves this picture without having been emotionally moved (and hopefully inspired my its message to pursue personal life goals), their heart is dark, cold, and stony.

Clint Eastwood made a quality picture that adds to his filmography as one of his best works ever! Great movie, great acting, great story, and kudos to all involved with the project!

A+

Million Dollar Baby is a magnificent piece of cinema. It's as simple as that, really. It came very close to eclipsing Sideways as my choice for #1 film of the year, but I thought it had a few very slight flaws that prevented that from happening. Baby is one of those movies that (literally, in this particular case) seems to punch you in the gut. Clint Eastwood's last picture, the also magnificent Mystic River, left me with the same powerful, haunted feeling that this film does. I'm still reflecting and contemplating ideals of the movie despite it ending an hour ago. A lion's share of Million Dollar Baby's success must go to lead actress Hilary Swank, who completely immerses herself in the role and gives the best acting by a lead actress this year. Clint Eastwood himself is also very strong, and Morgan Freeman gives the movie his usual dose of quiet dignity. The one thing in Million Dollar Baby that I could've perhaps done without is the portrayl of a mentally retarded wannabe boxer played by Jay Baruchel, who comes off as perhaps too cartoonish. However, it's only a small section of the film. Baby takes an unexpected twist in its final 1/4, and it's easily one of the most emotional and truly sincere sections of a film in a very long time. Very highly recommended. A.

And in this nearly perfect movie, I never expected that going into this movie, Hillary Swank would be the one whose performance blew me away over Eastwood and Freeman.

man, jan 28th seems so very far away...

Wow this sounds awesome!!

It has still no release date in germany. Bummer...

Maybe it'll pull a House of Sand and Fog and be released here in February 2006...

It was a good picture, no doubt, yet I am just a little confused as to why so many are hailing it as great cinema. I really enjoyed the intimate nature of the film and how we got a glimpse into the lives of the people that worked out of that small gym. I found myself chuckling here and there and genuinely interested in where the story was going to take me. But the movie never ended up going anywhere that I hadn't already been and the cliches really began to stack up, as did the frequency of my eye-rolls. The fighting scenes held no excitement and continued the trend of unrealistic portrayals of boxing on the big-screen. Now, I realize if filmmakers were to show a fight the way fights usually unfold, then it wouldn't be 'rousing' enough, so they cut to the chase and give us a few haymakers and BAM, instant KO. It's kind of hard to believe that after taking a hard shot in the nose, that Maggie could come back in the next round and knock the other girl out in 20 seconds. Or that the key to beating the one girl who Frankie admitted was better than her, was to come out the next round throwing haymakers and BAM, instant KO. As a big fan of boxing, these types of things bothered me.

The ending is where the real emotion lies in the film, yet it comes a little too late in the game and by then, there just wasn't enough of me invested in the characters for it to have a huge effect. Not to mention the fact that the way these events are set in motion was completely unrealistic and would never happen in a million years.

A nice understated score, some great acting, though I wasn't that impressed with Swank, and some nice lighting round out the package.

I would give Million Dollar Baby a B-, and can honestly say that I don't think I will ever watch it again.

Most filmmakers try desperately to make their film perfect, and it ends up falling apart at the seams, and you can see so many flaws begin to spill out. "Million Dollar Baby" is not one of these films. It never strives to be perfect, yet it (nearly) is. It never strives to be great, but it is. It never strives to be compelling, and yet, it is.

Freeman and Eastwood give amazing performances, and it's hard to believe that two veterans are just barely behind Hillary Swank in this film. Swank deserves every praising award possible, because she gives the best performance of the year, and one of the best performances I have ever seen. I don't know what it is, but I felt for her character, and I cheered for her. Most of all, it brought me to tears several times in the film: some intentional, some not.

In recent memory, I've only been able to see Lord of the Rings and Spider-Man as some of the best films that are some of my top favorites. This year, I was blessed with three COMPLETELY different films, that were all amazing in their own unique ways. A+'s are incredibly difficult to hand out from me, because I need a lot to go for a film, and Million Dollar Baby becomes the third film this year to merit such a grade. Comparing this film to the other two films that received the grade ("Saw", "Shaun of the Dead") is impossible. This may only end up as the third best film of the year in my book, but it easily is one of the greatest films I have ever seen.

Grade: A+

I'm going to see this at the 4:15 showing today. I'll write a review sometime tonight. Could you sticky this thread , Zingaling (found it buried on page 7), along with the threads for all of the movies that are up for a best picture Oscar perhaps?

I expect you to be gushing about this movie soon

This movie was excellent. It's close to a masterpiece. The ending was very sad, but incredible. However, I didn't like this more than Mystic River. Still, excellent, with great performances by Eastwood, Freeman, and especially Swank.

A-

Zingy, not only do we give it the same grade, but also for the same reasons. The characters in Mystic River were much more complex. Here it pretty easy to like the good guys and dislike the bad guys, and there isn't too much more than that. I already put in a full review that should come up today, but what I will sau is that in the hands of a lesser director, it would have been a conscious tear-jerker. But Clint manages to make it a richer movie and I was engaged with the film from the first to last minute.

Not Mystic, but still an excellently told story. I'm surprised Swank blew you away Goldie? For meit was definately Freeman that was the strongest.

What are the odds of that? :wink:

Anyways, I agree with Goldie. I think Hilary Swank was more of a stand-out performance than Freeman. Maybe it's because I've seen so many Freeman films (which he is always excellent, except maybe The Big Bounce...). I haven't seen that many Hilary Swank movies, so her performance in MDB was to fantastic to overlook.

Oh, please tell me you've seen Boys Don't Cry. If you haven't, please do so when you can. I mean, if you thought Hilary Swank was fantastic (and she was indeed incredible) in M$B, you'll be amazed at her performance in the other movie.

I've never even heard of Boys Don't Cry. I'll check it out eventually.

That's the movie Hilary Swank won the Best Actress Oscar for a few years ago.

Well, I didn't really get into the movie tracking and awards thing until just 2002. Boys Don't Cry came out in 1999 (I just checked). So, that's probably why I didn't know about it. I was like 10 at the time. :razz:

Boy Don't Cry is a much harder movie to watch, probably more for your age, so be prepared, Zing. It doesn't make it less good; it's just a tough movie.

It's even sadder because it's based on real life.

Yeah, I should've forewarned you, Zingy. Other than possibly Requiem for a Dream and Schindler's List, I don't think I've sat through a more gut-wrenching, difficult film to watch.

Hm... I loved both Schindler's List and Requiem for a Dream so I should rent it soon, heh.
Anyways... while my parents watch Hide and Seek I shall be seeing this and (maybe, finally) Hotel Rwanda. I want to see The Aviator and Sideways too though... Bleh.

I don't know what to say. I thought I would be able to come home and write my review, but I can't do it right now...