Ingmar Bergman-esque solemn tone or no, Part One, which encompasses the first two-thirds of the film, presents the all-too-familiar account of the pursuit of the American Dream – or perhaps more accurately, the escape from the American Nightmare – in the face of tremendous odds: Poor, fatherless Southern waitress Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank) is eager to leave behind her trailer-trash background by punching her way to boxing-ring stardom. Toole (pen name for boxing trainer Jerry Boyd), Million Dollar Baby provides the viewer with two movies for the price of one.
Predictable relationshipĬhiefly based on a short story by F.X. Ultimately, the derivative, contrived, slow-moving Million Dollar Baby – which never quite makes up its mind whether boxing is an artful sport or a social disease – is made barely tolerable only by Hilary Swank’s performance as the steadfast titular fighter. For once the dust is settled, that last third quickly derails into the same sentimental mush Eastwood and screenwriter Paul Haggis had come up with earlier on.
MILLION DOLLAR BABY AWARDS MOVIE
Fresh off the enthusiastically received, multiple Oscar-nominated, and appallingly insincere Mystic River, Best Director Academy Award winner Clint Eastwood ( Unforgiven, 1992) has gone on to tackle the ups and downs of the boxing world in Million Dollar Baby.ĭespite its cheery title and myriad boilerplate plot points, Eastwood’s latest isn’t one more Rocky-like rags-to-riches tale about a strong-willed underdog who’s transmogrified into an unbeatable topdog once he puts on his gloves, jumps into the boxing ring, and starts using other men as punching bags.įor starters, Million Dollar Baby’s lead character is a female boxer besides, about two-thirds into the narrative, the movie takes a radical turn toward tragedy that is as unexpected as everything else on screen – whether before or after – is tediously predictable.