Million Dollar Baby

Eastwood tells the story at a pace well under the Hollywood speed limit, tosses in details so beguiling they seem about to sprout into motion pictures of their own and bathes his subjects in shadows as lovely as those in any Rembrandt.

This heartbreaking film, with its rich performances and simple eloquence, lays claim to greatness.

As good as "Unforgiven." Or, to put it another way, as good as any movie Eastwood has ever directed.

Eastwood takes the audience to raw, profoundly moving places. If you fear strong emotions, this is not for you. But if you want to see Hollywood filmmaking at its most potent, Eastwood has delivered the real deal.

Baby may not be quite as compelling as Mystic River or Unforgiven, but there's something so stirring, and disquieting, too, in his quest that we cannot help but pay close attention to him. In the middle of his long career's third act, he's still searching for the secrets in things with striking resolve. You certainly can't ask more than that of any 75-year-old ex-gunslinger.

With his trademark spare, unfussy direction and jumping into the story approach, Eastwood subtly establishes the themes of faith, loss and love and then he raises the drama to a different level.

A compendium of every cliché from every bad boxing melodrama ever made, Million Dollar Baby tries to transcend its cornball overfamiliarity with the qualities that have long characterized Eastwood's direction -- it's solemn, inflated and dull.

Unreal! I didn't expect 'Million Dollar Baby' to be so astonishingly brilliant. I've said it many a time before but for full context, I do not read up about films before watching them - aside from making sure the film isn't part of a franchise, checking the run time and seeing the genre - so I was expecting this to be a cliché-filled, but still great, sports flick. It's so much more than that. It's way more deeper and has an everlasting impact that I hadn't anticipated. Even across the opening chunk I was predicating the obvious cliché ending, but as the film progresses and, especially, as the final portion rolls around it just absorbed my total attention - I was fully engrossed... hook, line, and sinker. Some film! The cast are simply stunning. Clint Eastwood gives an absolutely fantastic performance, Hilary Swank is truly sensational - especially at the end, damn - and Morgan Freeman is Morgan Freeman; what an actor and what a voice, using him as narrator was a great move. Elsewhere, and though less dramatically, Jay Baruchel, Anthony Mackie, Margo Martindale and Michael Peña also feature interestingly. It's quite the journey the film takes you on, which I just found utterly enthralling to watch unfold. Perfect pacing, perfect acting. I loved watching every second of it and will undoubtedly be revisiting it. I noted days ago that I was rather surprised to learn that Eastwood's 'Unforgiven' had been so heavily acclaimed, on this occasion with this 2004 film I am the complete opposite. I don't care much for awards et al., but I am delighted to see all involved receive their props for this. Chapeau! Marvellous, just marvellous.

It’s a boring story with a pointless twist. The pacing isn’t good. On the positive side, Swank gives a fantastic performance.

Bottom Line: Best Picture? Iâ

Million Dollar Baby fait partie de ces films qui n'ont qu'un seul but : faire chialer le public ; il n'a d'ailleurs été fait que dans ce seul but avec les 3 petites notes de piano récurrentes qui n'ont pas d'autre but que d'ouvrir les vannes (en grand). A cet effet, le scénario met tous les moyens en oeuvre pour que les vannes restent ouvertes non seulement au bon moment mais également un peu avant, progressivement, et de plus en plus jusqu'à l'inondation finale. Clint en fait donc des tonnes, à la fois dans le pathos et la misère sociale, à faire mourir de honte les Misérables de notre grand Victor Hugo national. Or, trop c'est trop, on n'est quand même pas complètement con même si son chiale avec les autres, parce que c'est triste, oui, mais c'est clairement exagéré et le mot est faible, très faible. On en arrive à un tel point que lorsqu'ils coupent la pauvrette, on s'esclaffe... la coupe est pleine, Clint, arrête ça déborde ! mais rassurez-vous, on garde des larmes en réserve pour la toute fin. C'est dommage d'en avoir rajouté autant, car la crédibilité est sérieusement mise à mal, y compris lors de "l'accident", invraisemblable... Dommage également pour la justesse des sentiments, de cette amitié qui se construit entre la boxeuse et son manager, entre la fille paumée et le vieux bougre. Même qu'on s'habituait au rabâchage de la voix off du barbon Morgan Freeman, toujours prêt à pérorer à la moindre occasion... Le drame, que dis-je, le mélodrame est un genre très difficile et on a vite fait de tomber dans la caricature, ce dont ce bon vieux Clint ne se prive décidément pas à maintes reprises. Encore dommage pour Hilary pas vraiment hilarante sur ce coup mais qui sait rester la plus sobre des trois entre elle et les bonzes désabusés : elle interprète excellement cette ingénue du malheur... ...malgré les seaux d'eau que lui balance Papy parce que Papy Clint trouve qu'il n'y en a pas assez. Tout cela est gâché, sévèrement gâché alors que pourtant la mise en scène est d'une remarquable précision... j'allais dire "sobre" mais avec un scénar' pareil, on repassera. La pleurnicherie à un million de dollars donc... mais qui ne les vaut certainement pas.

will i watch million dollar baby or will i stick a needle in my eye. Its a difficult decision but i think il go with the needle. Why anyone would want to watch this miserable pile of crap is beyond me but the taste of the unwashed masses generally does. Avoid like the plague