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For someone who hates boxing, film or otherwise, I was slightly put off by the idea of going to see Million Dollar Baby. If that wasn’t bad enough, Clint Eastwood made me step back even further. I’m not a fan, I probably never will be, but I will give the man his dues as this film is excellent, ... Read review
Clint Eastwood's 25th film as a director,Million Dollar Babystands proudly ... more
withUnforgivenandMystic Riveras the masterwork of a great American filmmaker. In an age of bloated spectacle and computer-generated effects extravaganzas, Eastwood turns an eleg...
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Clint Eastwood's 25th film as a director,Million Dollar Babystands proudly ... more
withUnforgivenandMystic Riveras the masterwork of a great American filmmaker. In an age of bloated spectacle and computer-generated effects extravaganzas, Eastwood turns an eleg...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 2 to 4 weeks...
In the wake of a painful estrangement from his daughter, boxing trainer Frankie Dunn has ... more
been unwilling to let himself get close to anyone for a very long time - then Maggie Fitzgerald walks into his gym. In a life of constant struggle, Maggie's gotten...
Clint Eastwood's gritty boxing drama was the big winner at the 2005 Academy Awards, ... more
garnering Oscars for Best Film, Best Director (Eastwood), Best Actress (Hillary Swank) and Best Supporting Actor (Morgan Freeman). As it did for 2003's Mystic River, Eastwood's life-long love of music and budding confidence as a composer has led him again to score the film himself. Anchored by elegiac figures for solo acoustic guitar and piano, it often shares River's spacious, subtle introspection. But it's also occasionally seasoned with welcome dollops of jazz and blues, the byproduct of a longstanding love affair with American roots music that also yielded his Charlie Parker biopic Bird and the insightful, Eastwood-produced Thelonius Monk documentary, Straight No Chaser. If its haunting, gently yearning string arrangements lack the bombast and overwrought melodicism that fuel so many Hollywood vehicles, Eastwood's musical sensibility here echoes his contemporary evolution as an actor and director: Surprisingly modern, with an emotionally tender, less-as-more ethos that's light years removed from his action film roots. --Jerry McCulley
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Drama - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Shelagh Fraser, Barbara Flynn, Keith Drinkel, Felicity Kendal, Pam Ferris, Colin Douglas
Production Year: 1995 - Drama - Director: Pat O'Connor - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over, 15 years and over - Starring: Geraldine O'Rawe, Colin Firth, Saffron Burrows, Minnie Driver, Chris O'Donnell
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Advantages: Excellant acting, emotional score, brilliant storyline Disadvantages: None that I could say
...idea of going to see Million Dollar Baby. If that wasn’t bad enough, Clint Eastwood made me step back even further. I’m not a fan, I probably never will be, but I will give the man his dues as this film is excellent, a very stirring experience.
With a little push from both the workers at my local cinema and mo chara, Ailran (after reading his own excellent review) yesterday I duely handed over my €5, and along with the twenty or so ... ...let me tell you about Million Dollar Baby, the film that tells the story of an ageing trainer and a hillbilly girl who, to escape all else, lives to be a boxer. The film is narrated throughout by an ex boxer who happens to be the trainers best friend. The film doesn’t just focus on boxing as a sport, it is about a boxer, and her struggles, as well as all the other characters in the film.
Frankie Dunn, played by Clint Eastwood, is ... more
The title means The True Darling, and I decided to pick an Irish title because of the Gaelic name that Frankie picked for Maggie.
For someone who hates boxing, film or otherwise, I was slightly put off by the idea of going to see Million Dollar Baby. If that wasn’t bad enough, Clint Eastwood made me step back even further. I’m not a fan, I probably never will be, but I will give the man his dues as this film is excellent, a very stirring experience.
With a little push from both the workers at my local cinema and mo chara, Ailran (after reading his own excellent review) yesterday I duely handed over my €5, and along with the twenty or so other people I went to see it. And boy, am I glad. I cannot believe I would have missed the best drama film I have seen in years, enough to move me to tears from almost start to finish.
So let me tell you about Million Dollar Baby, the film that tells the story of an ageing trainer and a hillbilly girl who, to escape all else, lives to be a boxer. The film is narrated throughout by an ex boxer who happens to be the trainers best friend. The film doesn’t just focus on boxing as a sport, it is about a boxer, and her struggles, as well as all the other characters in the film.
Frankie Dunn, played by Clint Eastwood, is the boxing trainer who now runs a fairly delapidated gym, and has pretty much no money.
Enter Hilary Swank, who plays Maggie, a pure trailer trash girl from southwest Missouri, who has been waitressing since she was young to try and afford to take up boxing, to escape her pretty miserable life. So she joins the gym, paying for 6 months so that Frankie simply cannot refuse to have her there, goes on a mission to get his attention, and lastly, to get him to train her to be the fighter she always wanted to be.
Frankie was a cutman before his managerial days, patching up ex fighter Morgan Freeman (who plays Scrap), who is now his best friend, who also happens to live at the gym. He sees Maggie turn up day after day, killing herself out trying to impress Frankie, and in the end, it is Scrap who convinces Frankie to train Maggie, the ‘girlie’ who he wants nothing to do with. In time, Frankie not only believes in Maggie as a fighter, but cares about her as a person.
He is fairly passionate about all things Gaelic, he reads W.B. Yeats (Lake Isle of Innisfree –my favourite poem), and tries his hand at the language, enough so as to name Maggie - Mo Cuisle, meaning ‘My darling’.
The film seems to portray everyone, including the minor characters, as having pretty much nothing except for boxing.
Using Morgan Freeman as the narrator works perfectly. His flat and gravely voice is simply telling us what is happening, it never rises or lowers to give a more dramatic feel, it just stays the same. But then he’s not just the narrator, when the other characters are off busy with something else, Scrap has his own things going on. He is a fellow lead character.
Hilary Swank is amazing as Maggie, and I have nothing but the utmost respect for this woman. She must have trained so hard to get into this part, and plays it perfectly. She is in excellent shape, very much the boxer. She pulls every scene off so well, from the fighting scenes, to the emotional and sympathetic ones.
Clint Eastwood was excellent as Frankie, and seems to have really gotten himself into shape for the role too. His directing capabilities were amazing, he told the story and let no sub plots come into the picture, he simply told it as how it was, and nothing more.
The film itself is dark in some places, and uses light very effectively. It is a film more about a woman’s fight to make something of herself, and about a man who doesn’t want to do anything for this woman, but who, in the end, will do anything he can for her, rather than just being a boxing film.
The music in the film is worked brilliantly, it isn’t used, as most are, in climatic scenes, but rather is just a background for some scenes. It never distracts you from what is going on, but again, as with the story, is very moving. Clint Eastwood actually composed it, so again, another mark in my book. I may even be turned into a fan.
I wouldn’t wait for the DVD, I would see it in the cinema, today if possible. Go now! But when it does come out on DVD, I will be the first to buy it. One, if not *the* best film I have ever seen.
Warner Bros. presents a film directed by Clint Eastwood.
Written by Paul Haggis, based on stories from Rope Burns by F. X. Toole (Jerry Boyd).
Running time: 133 minutes.
Eire Rating : 16 (for violence, some disturbing images, thematic material and language).
*16 is a new rating that the Irish Film Board have just released a few weeks ago, with Million Dollar Baby being the first 16’s film in my local cinema. There is no PG, you must be 16 or over to enter*
Here is the poem that Frankie was reading to Maggie towards the end, W.B. Yeat’s ‘The Lake Isle of Innisfree’ :
I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree, And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made. Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey bee, And live alone in the bee loud glade.
And I shall have some space there, for peace comes dropping slow, Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings. There midnights all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow, And evening full of the linnets wings.
I will arise and go now, for always night and day, I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore, While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey, I hear it in the deep heart’s core.
Thank you for reading, please check out Ailran’s review too! Maz x x
...I cannot recommend Million Dollar Baby enough. It is one of the most impressive films I’ve seen for along time.
Eastwood, Freeman and particularly Hilary Swank are all on stunning from. I don’t know what it is about Swank but give her good dramatic role and she shows what an incredibly talented actress she is. ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ showed this and the Oscar voters agreed. I’d be surprised if she doesn’t get the same recognition again this time. I cannot ... ...year. Her transformation from trailer trash to boxer is impressive and believable.
Details
Director: Clint Eastwood
Writer: Paul Haggins (Screenplay)
Based upon ‘Rope Burns: Stories From the Corner’ by manager/cutman Jerry Boyd under the pen name FX Toole
Running time: 137 mins
Certificate: 12A
Cast:
Clint Eastwood – Frank
Morgan Freeman – Eddie
Hilary Swank – Maggie Fitzgerald (Boys Don’t Cry, The Core)
Jay Baruchel – Danger Barch (Rules ...
Ailran 26.01.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Million Dollar Baby (DVD)
Advantages: It's not a Rocky style film. Disadvantages: Won't appeal to everyone.
...as starring, Clint Eastwood directs Million Dollar Baby and does a fine job of it in a kind of non-interventionalist way. A lot of the scenes are shot in dim lighting to help capture the mood and I suppose portray boxings murky, slightly shady image. This is not a special effects movie though, but the fight scenes are brutal and very convincing. Probably to the annoyance of the person sat behind me, I often found myself recoiling my head slightly ... ...be a good idea). Million Dollar Baby isn't big on locations with naturally, most of the story being based indoors, however, when Maggie goes to Europe for a few fights we are shown the obligatory shot of the Houses Of Parliament / Big Ben to let us know she's in London. Unfortunately I was too engrossed in the actual film to notice the score, although I'm sure it was there.
Throughout the film the acting is superb. You naturally come to expect this ...
scampi1 26.01.2005 (01.03.2005)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Million Dollar Baby (DVD)
Advantages: Magical story, direction and performances Disadvantages: None
A month later than planned I finally managed to go and see a film that seemed to have captured everyones imagination, including the academys - yet unlike others, this film has been shrouded in a silence which left me not knowing what to expect.
Directing once again in his assured and perfected minimalist style, in “Million Dollar Baby” Clint Eastwood has once again delivered a modern masterpiece - a film that brings us back to the days when stories ... ...in last year’s “Mystic River”, which like this film was also a multi academy award winner, Eastwood decides to add acting to his normal duties as producer, director and composer of the film’s score. He plays Frank, a tired and beaten boxing trainer who’s been in the sport all of his adult life, and has become so wearied by his plateau of moderate success that he has become fearful of the ambition to train a champion, let alone a female who will inevitably ...
milwayj 08.03.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Million Dollar Baby (DVD)
Advantages: A lesson in how to make a film with a storyline. No more SFX- please!!!! Disadvantages: Contrived, not as emotionally involving as it should be. Beat Scorsese to an Oscar.
...go for a review of Million Dollar Baby, i found i got, and i'm sure you will too, a positive picture of the film, now don't get me wrong it's not a bad film, on the contrary, it is good, just not great. It is also widely over-praised. It is too-cliched, too forced and just seems a final 'honour me with an best actor Oscar' plea by Clint. This film won best film Oscar because of the Academy's new-foung love affair with Clint's work, but probably more ... ...should have been neither but the not-even-nominated Eternal Sunshine, Farenheit, The Incredibles or out of the nominations available, Sideways.
I went into the cinema, with high expectations, what with Clint directing and starring, Morgan Freeman as his back-up, and previous award-winner Hilary Swank as the star, but I came out feeling somewhat underwhelmed.
The story revolves around a training gym for boxers, Clint (as Frankie Dunn) an old fixer ...
benji007 09.03.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Million Dollar Baby (DVD)
Advantages: Like Hovis - Best of Both, emotion-filled and Boxing together in one Disadvantages: Not to everyones tastes
Clint Eastwood adds spectacularly to both his Directing career and to his acting career with this great film. Clint Eastwood plays Frankie, a retired cut man who now manages a gym a former fighter who he worked with Scrap (Freeman). But he is brought back into the action by Maggie (Swank), a wannabe fighter who's determined to fight her way to the top. Eastwood is sceptical at first but becomes emotionally attached to this gritty fighter, As Maggie ... ...it all ends in heartbreak when an accident ends her career and she is left paralysed.
This film is very similar to those other boxing films that we have all seen, Raging Bull, Rocky and the like (with the rise from the gutter to become the best), but this film adds something extra that was apparent in any of these films; The emotional connection between Trainer and Fighter is expertly shown (like Rocky's relationship with Mike but much more intense ...
m.kerby 16.02.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Million Dollar Baby (DVD)
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Advantages: Answers a lot of questions, back on good form Disadvantages: Vehicle for setting up film number 2
Directed by:
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Starring:
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Production Year:
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Running Time:
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Certificate:
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DVD extras:
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Comic Book style navigation
Plot:
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Advantages: It makes you truly believe in love Disadvantages: You may run out of tissues
I first heard about P.S. I Love You from a man I used to work with. He took his family to see the film and admitted that he did in fact shed a few tears. He recommended it to me and I didn't actually get to see it until this week. I did however buy and read the book before now.
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...................................
--- The Cast List ---
Holly Kennedy - Hilary Swank (MillionDollarBaby, Insomnia)
Gerry Kennedy - Gerard Butler (The Phantom of the Opera, 300)
Denise Hennessey - Lisa Kudrow (Friends, Analyze This ...
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. Frankie's previous career was blighted by an injury to one of his prize fighters, Scrap (Morgan Freeman), who lost the sight in his right eye during a particularly brutal bout; Scrap now wiles away the hours working as a cleaner in Frankie's gym. Wary of similar occurrences being inflicted on the prestigious young talent that passes before him, Frankie lets a succession of great boxers slip through his fingers. But when the brash, confident young boxer Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank) strides into the gym, Frankie's life is irretrievably altered. Initially refusing to train Maggie due to her gender and age, Frankie relents when faced with her tenacity, spirit, and burning ambition. The combination of Maggie's talent and Frankie's tutelage paves the way for the adroit fighter to rise steadily through the ranks of women's boxing, with the unlikely coupling forming a genuinely touching bond in the process.
Born To Fight, Producers Round 15, James Lipton Takes On Three, Producers Round 15
Aspect Ratio
2.40 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Dubbing Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround English Dolby Digital Stereo English, Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo English
Award information
OSCAR
Best Actor In A Supporting Role 2004 (Morgan Freeman)
OSCAR
Best Actress In A Leading Role 2004 (Hilary Swank)
OSCAR
Best Director 2004 (Clint Eastwood), Best Actor In A Supporting Role 2004 (Morgan Freeman), Best Actress In A Leading Role 2004 (Hilary Swank)
Professional reviews
Review
This one floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee (Empire, )
DVD Description
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. Frankie's previous career was blighted by an injury to one of his prize fighters, Scrap (Morgan Freeman), who lost the sight in his right eye during a particularly brutal bout; Scrap now wiles away the hours working as a cleaner in Frankie's gym. Wary of similar occurrences being inflicted on the prestigious young talent that passes before him, Frankie lets a succession of great boxers slip through his fingers. But when the brash, confident young boxer Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank) strides into the gym, Frankie's life is irretrievably altered. Initially refusing to train Maggie due to her gender and age, Frankie relents when faced with her tenacity, spirit, and burning ambition. The combination of Maggie's talent and Frankie's tutelage paves the way for the adroit fighter to rise steadily through the ranks of women's boxing, with the unlikely coupling forming a genuinely touching bond in the process. Clint Eastwood has crafted a boxing film fit to stand alongside classics such as RAGING BULL and ROCKY with MILLION DOLLAR BABY. The scenes between Eastwood and Freeman are a delight to watch, with the two old hands pulling off masterfully understated performances as a couple of men teetering on the brink of failure. Likewise, Swank puts in a powerful turn as Maggie, further emphasizing her penchant for unusual roles, and perhaps even bettering her incredible, Oscar-winning showing as Teena Brandon in BOYS DON'T CRY.
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