Million Dollar Baby

Million Dollar Baby_360P

source: Million Dollar Baby

This is a movie which is up there with almost all of Clint's movies,And more so cause he directed this one.Don't know how he manages to get the story, actors and performance from the crew, so brilliantly synchronized time and again to get the Oscar nominations.The bonding between the characters has been portrayed very beautifully in this movie. Once I saw it, I was sure its gonna get a few Oscars among the categories it gets nominated for, and guess what it got the grandest of them all "THE BEST PICTURE" and of course "THE BEST DIRECTOR".I thought last year he was robbed out of it so probably made up for it this year.Just go and enjoy a real good movie.Better seen than being written I guess....... a real 10/10

Saw this last night in LA without much knowing what to expect. Hadn't read many reviews...only knew I liked the work of the three main stars. Swank carries the film and is at her absolute best. The last 45 minutes are some of the most powerful film-making I can remember. Eastwood is also in top form but allows Swank's performance to trump his own. Freeman is outstanding and might have done enough to earn a Best Supporting Actor nomination. This is so much more than a boxing movie, but it's right there with "Raging Bull" and "Rocky". I saw "The Aviator" two days ago and enjoyed "MDB" more. However, the film is not without fault...Eastwood has a tendency to allow scenes to go on too long and to fill them with too much dead air. The dialogue at times appears a little too ad-libbed. There are some minor logical inconsistencies. But the positives far outweigh the negatives.

Million dollar baby is three parts: a boxing movie, a father-daughter story and a movie about euthanasia. As a boxing movie it's interesting for camera-work and editing of the boxing scenes, but after all those years it can't still come close to Raging Bull. The father-daughter relation is endearing and in drama terms the best part of the movie. The more complex issue of euthanasia is handled in too simple terms here. Eastwood's movies are almost never dull, but they are so full of simple clichés that there is a moment when the screen magic becomes an over-sentimental and unbelievable journey. The gym that can't hardly exist, the cleaning man that can't buy socks, the fighter winning everything in the first round, the family that is too crude for words. the Danger guy for the funny note, etc. Morgan Freeman's uninteresting repetition of his voice-over in The Shawshank Redemption tops this off.

For whatever reason, I did had reservations about going to see Million Dollar Baby. I am extremely happy that I decided to go because this movie was totally entertaining from start to finish. It simply grabs you and does not let up. Million Dollar Baby will be a keeper for my video collection! Eastwood, Freeman, and Swank all give superb performances and I sincerely hope they are given their due at the Oscars in March. The character's developed throughout the film and the actor's portrayal of them made the characters believable. Granted a few of the fight scene's were a bit over the top but then it is still Hollywood. What I like the most is the lack of special effects and the total concentration on the development of the story. Borrowing from Roger Ebert: Thumbs Way UP!

At the end of the movie, I cried what deep sorrow I felt, how true to life and moving with emotion this movie is. To be on top of the world to fall so hard, but to have the drive to complete the task, what ever that task may be. The boxing scenes are so real and full of excitement you can almost smell the blood and sweat. I felt like I was in the arena boxing with Hillary. MR Clint Eastwood; has a directing style that is cool and smooth easy going,brilliant. To see Morgan Freeman together with Clint Eastwood two great actors verbally sparring what a treat. Morgan can hold his own against a legend. Hilary Swank Is so believable as Maggie, I feel each blow. Hilary deserves an Oscar for her performance.

I've been infatuated with Clint Eastwood from the time I saw his first spaghetti western when I was a teenager. I've seen all the movies he's starred in and directed. And I've seen his skills as a storyteller develop, mature and grow. Throughout this period the infatuation remained constant and re-assuring. But today, after viewing 'Million Dollar Baby', I'm totally and completely in love with this man. Clint, his movie, Freeman and Swank deserve to win Oscars in every category for this film. He is a Master of his craft. I want him stick around and do it again and again!. And I'm in love Hilary too!. She does not act - she becomes!.

If Morgan Freeman, ( Eddie Scrap-Iron Dupris) did not appear in this film it would have failed on its face, because he gave the best supporting performance I have ever seen him create. Hilary Swank, (Maggie Fitgerald) put her heart and soul into this role as a prize fighter who climbs to unbelievable heights in the world of women boxing with the great help of both Eddie Dupris and Clint Eastwood,(Frankie Dunn). Frankie Dunn constantly has gone to his church and asked the priest many questions concerning the Catholic Faith and even runs into trouble with the Priest trying to understand his frame of thinking. Frnkie Dunn asks the priest a question that will change the entire mood of the film and put it into a very controversial film concerning Life or Death. Nice film.

I find the praise that MILLION DOLLAR BABY has received from critics baffling. I did not feel that the film connected on an emotional level, and that it was more like watching stock characters in action. Hillary Swank is very good, but her character moves from amateur boxer to championship contender while showing practically nothing in between. Clint failed to impress me with his performance (and I am a Clint fan), and Morgan Freeman continues to be highly overrated. The second half drags considerably, and I felt the whole third act to be very manipulative. I know I'm in the minority, but I felt a dissenting opinion should be voiced.