(I apologize for the image, a product of boredom and I don't know what)
My thoughts are mixed on Million Dollar Baby. My knee-jerk reaction after finishing the film was that it was caringly made and technically well-executed, and had strong acting as well, but the story was too cliched and the progression of events never really drew a viewer to root for Maggie (Hilary Swank), the lead character, who is helped by trainer Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood) to become an unlikely boxing champ. One problem may have been the way the film was focused. With the title being 'Million Dollar Baby', and with the story presented the way it was, the apparent inevitability of her story made me feel less involved in the film. (I should add, though, that I may have just been put off by our technical problems; the first DVD we rented skipped relentlessly.)
After thinking about it more, it seems like the way the film progressed may have been more intentional than a problem. Maggie's seemingly guaranteed against-the-odds success set the film up nicely for its tragic ending, which manages to come as a genuine surprise. Even more surprising, to not give too much away, was Frankie's decision and shift in opinion at the end. The film may come off as an overly-pretentious Oscar-fodder look at a controversial issue, but I think the focus is more on the changes and troubles of the characters than on the moral issue.
The thing that appealed to me the most in this film was the way it showed the true colors of several characters. Clint Eastwood's tough'n'gruff image fades through the film into the image of a man who is deeply caring and possibly over-protective. Maggie, who may appear as timid or over-enthusiastic as Danger, a skinny, hapless, perhaps deluded fighter who goes to Frankie's gym, turns out to be tough as nails, through to the end. Maggie's family, by contrast, is shown to be ungrateful, cowardly, and opportunistic in their relations with her. One of the only characters who stays as he is is the janitor/helper Eddie (Morgan Freeman), who counters to Frankie as the caring and helpful one in his gym, who we learn will still turn fierce and tough when he needs to.
2 comments:
I agree with you about the story arc. I think the sort of 'cliched' story you mentioned helps to keep the focus upon the relationship between frankie and maggie as opposed to maggie's career - that's only the backdrop, after all. I tihnk the film is more about maggie filling the void left by frankie being a crappy father.
I hadn't even thought about the backstory for why Frankie would be so devoted to Maggie - that's definitely a large part of the 'real' story of the film, of the characters.
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