I recently watched Clint Eastwood's Invictus, and was rather unimpressed. Eastwood has matured into a great director however, so I'm sure his next effort (a supernatural film!) will be worth checking out. Here's a review from 2005 of one of Eastwood's films - one that I didn't think I'd enjoy, but boy howdy did I.
Million Dollar Baby
Release Date: January 28
Director: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman
Rating: PG-13
This
is a fight movie - about boxing for the first half, and a fight of a different
kind for the second. Much has been made over the controversial plot twist in
Clint Eastwood's latest, and it threatens to overshadow what is actually an
intensely personal film.
Eastwood
plays Frankie Dunn, a boxing trainer who begrudgingly agrees to take on Maggie
Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank) a waitress who dreams of a future as a professional boxer,
though she's thirty-two and armed with little more than a plucky smile and
sheer determination.
Frankie,
estranged from his daughter, attempts to fill that hole in his soul with his
mentoring of Maggie. Maggie in turn finds more of a sense of family with
Frankie than she had ever felt with her family back home in Missouri.
There is plenty to like in this film, including strong work from Swank, who thankfully is not content to coast on her 1999 Oscar win for the amazing Boys Don't Cry. Morgan Freeman is in his element, playing yet another wise old sage, but it works well here, and unlike some of his recent roles, doesn't feel like a re-tread.
I especially enjoyed how Freeman's
narration actually served a purpose at the end of the film, deftly adding
another dimension to the proceedings. Eastwood is a jazz fan, and it shows in
his smooth, easygoing direction. Maybe playing a cranky curmudgeon isn't a
stretch, but this is still the best role Clint has had in years.
Now
about that twist. Eastwood denies he's taking sides on the film's controversial
issue, saying, quote; "I'm just telling a story. I don't advocate. I'm
playing a part. I've gone around in movies blowing people away with a .44
Magnum. But that doesn't mean I think that's a proper thing to do."
I'm
not going to disclose what happens, although you may have heard by now as this
issue is a lightning rod for debate. Knowing the ending certainly didn't hurt
Passion of the Christ or Titanic, and I believe the
same will hold true for this fine film, which takes on questions of faith,
family and forgiveness with class.
Tomorrow: Boogeyman
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