Million Dollar Baby
(2004)
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Released a little over a year after the grand success of his Oscar-winning feature 'Mystic River', Clint Eastwood returns to the director's chair for 'Million Dollar Baby'. Eastwood also stars in the role of Frankie Dunn, a down-on-his-luck former boxing manager who spends the twilight years of his life running a small, dilapidated gym in downtown Los Angeles. |
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For those who thought Unforgiven was the masterpiece of Clint Eastwood's autumn years, this sharp, moving and brutally bleak drama proves that he can bring the same grizzled genius to the sports arena. Adapted from Rope Burns, a book of short stories by FX Toole, it stars Eastwood as Frankie Dunn, a washed-up coach whose fighters abandon him as soon as they hit the big time. Dumped by his latest slugger, Dunn reluctantly turns his attentions to Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank), a 31-year-old waitress who turns up at his gym begging for lessons. Dunn tutors Maggie to success, but then this otherwise standard underdog story takes a shocking turn in its final third that gives the movie an unexpected depth and immense power. Morgan Freeman is impressive as Dunn's crumpled sidekick, and Golden Globe winner Swank is terrific, too, but this is Clint's film, both as its tortured hero and as a great American director.
Halliwell's Film Guide
A knockout, affecting drama of an ageing boxing trainer, almost waiting for death, his commonsensical sidekick, and a young woman hoping for a life; Eastwood wrings true emotion from a narrative that goes in unexpected directions and the performances are