jcsmith-00566
I loved Million Dollar Baby, but I think that Ray was way better, but I do not know why because you would expect me to like Million Dollar Baby more than Ray because of the amount of violence in Million Dollar Baby. Well anyway, I would give Million Dollar Baby an A, for the cast's splendid acting, wonderful story, and for Eastwood's superb directing.
This is Clint Eastwood's second time winning Best Picture, now it should have been his third time winning it because he should have won it the year before for Mystic River, but he did not which really pisses me off. I am sad that he ( Clint) did not win Best Actor but that was expected knowing that Jamie Foxx was nominated for it too, so there was no way he ( Clint) could have won it. Eastwood does a fabulous job directing like he always does, but you should not walk into Million Dollar Baby thinking it will be anything like Unforgiven or Mystic River. One thing that I really like about Eastwood's more recent movies, is how they are not all the same. You see him in all the western movies from the 60's, then he wins Best Picture in 92 with Unforgiven which is a western movie, then he does some fewer none movies, then he makes Mystic River which is a full-on drama, very different from Unforgiven. He then wins the next year with Million Dollar Baby a movie nothing like Mystic River, now he is making mostly war movies, but he has kept his movies different in their own unique way and I like that he does that.
The acting Million Dollar Baby is phenomenal, even if the character is only a minor part, it is amazing. The priest who is only in 2 scenes, he still did a great job. The dick Anthony Mackie plays, I mean he did a good job playing a dick, so good job, I guess? I think the best acting of a minor character would be Danger, the kid who has some mental disadvantage, Jay Baruchel does an amazing job pulling off the part of Danger. Morgan Freeman got his first Oscar which is surprising for an actor as good as himself it surprises me that he has not won any other Oscars. He does a great job in all of his roles, I personally think that he should have won Best Actor for his role as Nelson Mandela in Invictus. Hilary Swank gets her second Oscar so go her, she won her first in Boy's don't Cry, she does a really good job and she deserves the Oscar for Million Dollar Baby.
The movie is an adaptation of the story Ropes Burn by F.X. Toole. I have not read it but from what I have heard it was a good adaptation, Paul Haggis does a good job turning the story into a modern time period. Million Dollar Baby is a very good story about a woman who wants to be a boxer. She does become a boxer, but only after intense persuasion and proof that she is ready to fight. Oh yeah, also the fact that she is a woman in 2004 so people were less respecting of women, especially women who were trying to fill in the shoes of a boxer, a role that is normally done by men. In fact, she is so good at boxing that she knocks all of her opponents out only in the first few seconds which is good but Eastwood's character does not think that is giving her any practice. But because of that she barely receives pain from the other opponents, and that will catch up to her later in her boxing career.
Million Dollar Baby reminds me of Rocky, Rocky 2, Rocky 3, Rocky 4, but it does not remind me of Rocky 5 or Raging Bull. I think you can see why 4 of the Rocky movies remind me of Million Dollar Baby.
To conclude, I would give Million Dollar Baby an A, for the cast's splendid acting, wonderful story, and Eastwood's superb directing.
raymond-houser
I don't tend to write reviews, and certainly not about something I feel so strongly about. I feel that my emotions prevent me from giving an unbiased review. But I wanted to make this exception because I've read too many reviews comparing this movie to Rocky. There's boxing in the movie, and that's where the similarities to Rocky ends. This movie is about the love of a father for his daughter. This movie is about living a life you can feel proud of. The boxing is incidental. If you are looking for a sports movie, move along. If you are looking for a deep, emotional roller coaster ride, this movie is for you.
john_siv
Good boxing movie with some tremendous performances, but the moral message of this film was appalling. By the end of the picture euthanasia was essentially glorified and that is absolutely not okay in any movie. The production code back in the golden age of cinema was there for a reason; to make sure the right sort of stories were told and the right sort of messages sent. I can't say I find a 'mercy killing' particularly moving or heartbreaking - I find it a deplorable indictment of the morality of the world that such an ending can be gushed over.The scene where Maggie asked Frankie to put her out of her misery was moving and well done, couldn't the picture have just ended there? Seeing him actually do it was crass, unnecessary and left a bad taste in the mouth.
undeaddt
I can't say that I loved the movie, but I liked it. Throughout the movie I felt like the girl was a bit to forced with the acting, it didn't seem natural to me, somehow I couldn't feel with her. But as the movie went on, you slowly grow with the character, all the way until the end where the story comes to a heartbraking finish and leaves you in tears. Clint and Morgan were top class, as always, one of the best roles they played and one of the best movies Clint Eastwood made.
