million dollar baby [A+]

moviemcpeake snippet: Extraordinary. Riveting. Inspiring. "Million Dollar Baby" exudes what every film tries to capture. It starts with a riveting story written by Paul Haggis. Maggie Fitzgerald (Swank), a thirty-one year old girl, who is seeking to be trained by the washed up, chip on his shoulder, boxing trainer Frankie Dunn (Eastwood). Growing up in the trashiest of trash, she doesn’t want to learn, she has to learn to live. The two lead characters could not be more different. Maggie, instead of focusing on her past and her current situation, turns her life to what she loves, boxing. Frankie, weighed down with the mistakes and choices he made in the past, he barely survives in the present. This story is about how a common love bonds them together and brings them into a world that they both could only dream about.

No review I write, can do this story and these three actors justice. Hilary Swank, Clint Eastwood, and Morgan Freeman seemed to be born to play these parts. Freeman sets the tone for the entire film as the gym assistant and story narrator. Where he shines as the backroom conscience for Eastwood’s Frankie and the helping hand to Swank’s Maggie. His voice throughout the film provides a constant level of hope, comfort, and calmness as he adds a personal touch in each transition. Eastwood, puts an exclamation point to his already brilliant career as Actor and Director. He not only acted wonderfully as the chip on the shoulder trainer Frankie, he shines as the films eyes and ears as Director, Producer, and Score. Swank. Oh my! How she transforms herself time after time is amazing. She truly understands the complexity of the women she portrays by bringing out their simplest traits. Her portrayal embodies the character, from the accent, to the training, to the light in her eyes that shines as Maggie.

"Million Dollar Baby" is a story worth a Million bucks. It makes you feel, it makes you reflect, it makes you know that all dreams are possible. To make them happen you have to find your Maggie, your grit deep within, to follow your dream even if no one else can see it.

recommendation: own it. show it to your daughters, sons, mothers, and fathers.