If the name Clint Eastwood ever comes up in a sentence, obviously they go back to whatever he's done in his long, 50 plus year career as an actor, producer, and director. Whether it is the Sergio Leone Spaghetti Westerns he did in the 60s, the film with Don Siegel in the 70s along with his role as "Dirty Harry" Callahan in the 70s and 80s, or the elder statesmen who directed such films as The Unforgiven, Bridges of Madison County, and the underrated films A Perfect World and Absolute Power. By the 21st century, Eastwood seems to have done everything while being revered as an icon in cinema where in 2001, the British cartoon band outfit Gorillaz named a song after him. Then in 2003, Eastwood surprised everyone again with his melancholic thriller Mystic River which garnered several Oscar nominations including a director nod for Eastwood while it won two acting awards to Sean Penn and Tim Robbins. Just as everyone thought the 74-year old Eastwood couldn't pull another one are in for another surprise again with his 2004 film Million Dollar Baby.
Based on the short story from F.X. O'Toole, that is adapted into a script by co-producer Paul Haggis, Million Dollar Baby is a gritty, complex boxing movie about an old trainer and gym owner who is down on his luck as he begins to train a 31-year old woman to be a prize fighter. With help from his longtime friend, the trainer teaches the woman about boxing not just in the ring but also in life. Directed, produced, score composed, and starring Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby is anything but a typical boxing film. It's a character study movie about a man who tries to find faith in his empty, downtrodden life while taking on a new protege while dealing with the corrupt world of professional boxing and life itself. Also starring Eastwood regular Morgan Freeman, Hilary Swank, Brian O'Byrne, Anthony Mackie, Jay Baruchel, and Mike Colter. Million Dollar Baby is a low-key yet stirring masterpiece that makes it the most poignant and realistic boxing film since Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull.
After coming out of a fight for one of his boxers, old gruff trainer Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood) bumps into a 31-year old female boxer named Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank) backstage. After Frankie takes his boxer Willie Little (Mike Colter) home, he's not sure if Willie is ready for a chance to become a world champion. Dunn's life is miserable since he often has letters for his daughter that is returned frequently while his days as a trainer is wearing thin and is losing touch with whatever potential his boxers have. He even goes to church every Sunday for answers which annoys his priest Father Horvak (Brian O'Byrne) At the daytime in his L.A. based gym that included a former boxer and longtime friend Eddie "Scrap-Iron" Dupris (Morgan Freeman), Dunn would see his regular boxers in training like the dreamer Danger Barch (Jay Baruchel) and sparer Shawrelle Berry (Anthony Mackie).
Dunn would only train Willie Little and nothing else except read his Gaelic book and talk with Eddie, whom often does the janitor work while living in the gym. On that day, he also sees Maggie training herself with a punching bag. Maggie’s frequent trips to the gym whenever she isn't working as a waitress, would irk the old chauvinist Dunn until one night when the gym is closed, Eddie helped Maggie into training. Dunn doesn't give in even when he sees Maggie going into the little speed bag but her determination and discipline despite her age and inexperience finally breaks Dunn into training her, especially with his top-fighter gone to win the championship without Dunn's help. Dunn only would if Maggie listens to everything he does as she learns the trade and ropes of boxing. After months of training and a fight on the way, Maggie gains a manager but doesn't go well until Dunn helps to guide her in the ring as she wins the fight. With the manager tossed, Dunn and Fitzgerald becomes a combo.
Dunn continues to train Maggie while she saves up her money to get herself a better place for herself and money for her mother Earline (Margo Martindale) back in Missouri. One day on Maggie's 33rd birthday, she eats dinner with Eddie who talks about Frankie and the fight that cost Eddie his right eye, especially when Eddie was getting close to a championship fight. While Maggie is getting offers to be managed by many, she chooses to stick with Frankie as her boxing career becomes huge especially in bouts against European fighters. The success brings Maggie money where she decides to buy a house for her welfare-living mother but Earline isn't happy about getting off welfare while finds the idea of Maggie being a fighter laughable. Maggie’s rejection from her mother only makes her more determined for the title, as Frankie becomes a father figure to her while she continues to call him boss.
With a chance for a title fight against world champion Billie "The Blue Bear" (Lucia Ranker) coming, Dunn tries to see if he should give Maggie her shot, even when coming to Eddie for help. Maggie finally does get a shot to fight against the dirty boxer Billie with Dunn at her corner that would lead to life decisions for everyone involved.
What makes Million Dollar Baby such a compelling and intelligent boxing film is the way Clint Eastwood approached the film. Rather than making it into a typical boxing movie with several formulas done before especially in the Rocky movies, Eastwood goes for grit and moments where it's more human especially with boxing as a metaphor of life with elements of spirituality circulating in the film. The film's first two acts is mostly driven by boxing, the first is the training of Maggie and the second is her becoming a boxer but then, there's a third act that really changes the course of the movie. Though it remains a boxing film, it's done in a very different way where life and spirituality collide and the motivation of its central characters come into place.
Eastwood in his directing is as masterful and as authentic in which you would expect from any veteran filmmaker in the top of his game. His directing in Million Dollar Baby tops what he did before with Mystic River where he allows the characters to grow while letting the audience to connect with them in many ways. There are some great dramatic scenes with the three main actors, including a comical one about Freeman's sock with holes in them which is minimalist acting in it's finest. The boxing sequences in the film are top-notch with some great camera work done in the scenes and the sound that really gives you the pain of what goes on in that ring. While Eastwood deserves a lot of the credit, credit also should go to screenwriter Paul Haggis for his approach to the story and its structure, especially with the way the film's tone and style changes in the third act while he brings in some great lines for all the actors involved.
If Eastwood's evocative and low-key style to directing is top-notch, so is the shadowy, moody cinematography of Tom Stern. Stern brings the authenticity to the film, notably in scenes at the night with very little lighting and only using shadows to convey the characters and the mood of the film itself. Even with editor Joel Cox helping the film with its structure where the film doesn't move very slow or moves very fast although at times, it does as if you're are in a boxing match. Even the film has a gritty look that is realistic thanks to production designer Henry Bumstead and art director Jack Taylor for its grim, grayish look of Frankie's gym. Even costume designer Deborah Hooper helps the film's look by not bringing in any pretty clothing but rather some really, dingy clothes with a very imperfect look. If the film's tone is very low-key in its gritty style, Clint Eastwood's plaintive, eerie film score compliments it in a way that isn't grandeur but very entrancing in the way it shapes the film and its characters.
Then there's the film fine ensemble cast of actors with Anthony Mackie, Mike Colter, and Jay Baruchel as the huge standouts, notably Baruchel who provides comic relief as a dim-witted dreamer who doesn't really know how to fight. Margo Martindale is also excellent in the unlikable role of Maggie's downtrodden, money-grubbing mother who doesn't understand her daughter and in the third act, we see her more but for what she really is, especially to Maggie. Brian O'Byrne is the film's spiritual guide of the film as he often questions Frankie Dunn about his faith and why he comes to church, especially in the final act where things become very difficult that O'Byrne himself isn't sure what to do for Dunn.
The film's best supporting performance easily goes to Morgan Freeman who also serves as the film’s narrator. Freeman gives an understated, intelligent performance as Eastwood's friend and former boxer with his guidance on boxing in his scenes with Swank along with some very powerful scenes with Eastwood. Freeman really helps with the film's tone as the narrator while forcing Eastwood to confront his demons but in the narration, you wonder who Freeman is talking to than just the audience but it seems he plays the role as the audience. It's another great performance from the veteran, prolific actor.
Hilary Swank delivers probably her best performance overall in the role of Maggie Fitzgerald. Five years after her breakout role in the seminal 1999 Kimberly Pierce film Boys Don't Cry that won her an Oscar for best actress, Swank delivers a performance that proclaims, "Don't call it a comeback". Swank doesn't even get wimpy or exactly all feminine but instead, she goes for grit by playing the role with heart and determination with a mean right hook. Swank is great in her scenes with Eastwood and Freeman as she can act with the two veterans while giving time to herself as this role not only will probably give her another Oscar but hopefully more roles that she should've deserved.
Clint Eastwood also delivers an enigmatic, powerful performance in his role as the anguished, hopeless Frankie Dunn. Eastwood uses the same tough demeanor that everyone knows and love but he also does more in his scenes with Freeman and Swank by playing a tough old man who knows a lot. He even brings a fraternal sense of compassion to the role as he and Swank begin to bond more while discussing some ratty things like a cheeseburger or socks in more comical scenes with Freeman. Eastwood even brings a heartbreaking vulnerability to the role, notably in its troubling third act where he questions his own faith and morals. Eastwood proves time and time again in why he is one of the greatest actors of all-time and he does it again in this role.
Million Dollar Baby is a true, complex, and poignant masterpiece from Clint Eastwood that is spurred by his own work as a director and actor along with the brilliant performances of Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman. Fans of boxing films will easily find this as one of the best, especially with women now being in the forefront. It's tough; it’s enlightening, and very intelligent in many ways. Thanks to a smaller group of actors, a dedicated film crew, and a great story, Million Dollar Baby is truly one of 2004's finer surprises as the film really belongs to Clint Eastwood who at age 74, is still on top and he might have a couple of more great films in him.
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