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| Million Dollar Baby | | Date Created: Jan 29, 2005, 11:26 PM |
FILM SYNOPSIS (from Oscar nominees blurb)
When Frankie Dunn, a fight trainer who runs a Los Angeles gym, is approached by Maggie Fitzgerald, a young waitress who is determined to become a boxer, he at first refuses her request to become her manager. Frankie's friend, Scrap, however, recognizes the determination behind Maggie's dream and convinces Frankie to reconsider.
Now I've gone and ruined it. I got talked into going to see Million Dollar Baby and now I have personal favorites when I consider who will (not who should) win the Oscars. I almost never see the movies up for nominations in their first run, so choosing who will win the Oscars for the big 6 (movie, director, lead and supporting actor and actress) is relatively easy. I usually get at least four and often five correct based on history, Golden Globes, reviews, others' predictions, and Hollywood PC trends.This is quite adequate. Seeing the movies that are nominated is largely irrelevant. Who should win is an entirely different story. My movie companion says this makes me a fraud. But then I don't hold myself out to be a movie critic, only a social commentator. Dr. Reptile is the music critic, and he's no fraud.
So for those who haven't seen it and/or don't know anything about it, Million Dollar Baby is the latest Clint Eastwood extravaganza. He directed, produced, and played the lead male character, Frankie Dunn. Clint has done this before and won the big awards for The Unforgiven. Hillary Swank plays Maggie Fitzgerald and already won a Golden Globe. Morgan Freeman plays Scrap, the "friend" mentioned above. Like the great movie, The Shawshank Redemption, Freeman narrates this movie and was nominated for best supporting actor. He didn't win for Shawshank, and he didn't win the Golden Globe this year. The movie was nominated for Golden Globe best picture but lost to The Aviator. Eastwood, however, won the Globe for best director.
This movie is well worth seeing. It's not really the boxing movie it looks like and is more or less promoted. What it really is can't be divulged without giving away the last third and I won't give it away here but don't fail to see it because you thought it was another boxing epic like Raging Bull.
Clint Eastwood is getting on in years and can act better than John Wayne but that's not saying much. Directing, maybe, but not for acting. He doesn't belong in the best actor category. Morgan Freeman is a national treasure and the fact that he's never won an academy award is just wrong, to quote another famous baby. I'm hoping he'll win for this role because he deserves it but I'm not predicting that just yet. Hillary Swank is up there with Meryl Streep. The only reason she won't win is because she's already won an Oscar.
So what's not to like? Well some of it doesn't ring true. Characters are either too good or hopelessly bad. Eastwood's acting detracts somewhat. The fight scenes, for the most part, are quite well done and very realistic, but to a physician, there's some medical parts that are just too bogus to go along for the ride. The medical scene in ET The Extraterrestrial was similar in that regard. Perhaps that won't bother the less medically sophisticated. After you've seen it, let me know if you want to know what the big mistake and several lesser mistakes were.
The only other movie that's up for several nominations that I've seen is Sideways. That was entertaining and worth seeing -- quirky and different -- but not in the same league as Million Dollar Baby. So you can see where my prejudices lie. Now I have to forget that and pick the winners of the Oscars.
Relatedly, Dr. Reptile notes that Counting Crows' Accidentally in Love was on Dr. Reptile's Greatest Hits 2004 and is nominated for best song at the Oscars. That might be a tough choice to make as well.
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