Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman ? two of my favourite actors together was an irresistible offer. I could not have missed ?Million Dollar Baby?. And I should confess I was never disappointed and would rate this above ?Mystic River? - another Clint Eastwood direction.
As some critique has pointed out ’’Million Dollar Baby’’ is about a woman determined to make something of herself, and a man who doesn’t want to do anything for this woman, and will finally do everything.?
Eastwood seems to be getting better with age. At 74 he still excels as a director and actor. Million Dollar baby is a saga of three people seduced by the boxing ring. The carefully etched out characters of Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood), Maggie Fitzgerald (Hillary Swank) and Eddie (Morgan Freeman) make it an emotionally charged film.
Frankie Dunn ? A boxing trainer who owns a gym is a not-so-well-to-do corner of the city
Maggie Fitzgerald ? A gritty fighter with raw talent who wants to make it big at the age of 31
Eddie ? A former fighter that Frankie managed some time ago and now works at the gym
Frankie and Eddie have their own stories. Frankie, filled with guilt ? an unexplained separation from his daughter and a self-afflicted frustration for not having thrown in the towel at the right time during the fight that took away Eddie?s one eye. He seems to find his solace in Gaelic and in his intellectual questioning of the church priest.
Eddie lives with the knowledge of Frankie?s woes. Maggie is a waitress, who with the help of Eddie finally wears Frankie down, though Frankie initially insisted that he wont take girls as students. There start some relationships, which are gracefully handled by the director and the script.
The conversations add flavour to the film. ?Boxing is an unnatural game? and how the narrator explains the statement is captivating. ? I don?t have any one else, other than you? ? a statement, which one could have taken in a different light, is perceived in a totally different plain in this film.
The conversations that Frankie has with the priest, taken lightly initially by the audience, gain gravity later. The usage of lights throughout the film also stands out. A good part of the film is shot with dark shadows and in dim light.
The actors engage in their roles with much ease and near perfection. The story never seemed rushed through or dragging. The notion of the story I developed in my mind within the first few reels were totally taken off-guard. A pleasant surprise though it is drenched in melancholic strains and mellowness.
The relatively unimportant scenes in the film gave me much pleasure when I was ruminating over the movie once I finished the two hour fifteen minute classic. Simple things in life or simple statements on life, which could bring a whole lot of joy!
Million Dollar baby is a classic with contemporary touch.
As I am writing this, the Oscars for the year are being announced. And Million Dollar Baby has won the awards for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actor. And I think that encapsulates the masterpiece that it is!!