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| Having had his career marred by an injury to one of his fighters, former boxing manager Frankie Dunn runs a small gym in Los Angeles. When Maggie Fitzgerald walks into his gym, he is initially reluctant to help realise her dream, but as she perseveres, he begins to see the talent she offers...
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Here's what our members thought of this title. 5 stars = very good, 1 star = poor.
 |  | "If there's magic in boxing, it's the magic of fighting battles beyond endurance, beyond cracked ribs, ruptured kidneys and detached retinas. It's the magic of risking everything for a dream that nobody sees but you."
There's no stopping Clint Eastwood, seventy-something director, producer, composer and star of Million Dollar Baby, a poignant boxing drama that packs one hell of an emotional punch. Recently rewarded with the Academy Award for Best Picture and Director, Leading Actress for Hilary Swank and Best Supporting Actor for Morgan Freeman; this alternately tender and ferocious movie constantly surprises, challenging us and our emotions at every turn. Believable dialogue and powerful but subtle performances work their magic throughout this Hollywood gem, beautifully shot with a gentle jazz score.
Swank takes the lead and holds onto it throughout as Maggie, fiercely determined to transcend her trailer park existence by making it as a boxer, and no less committed to having grizzled trainer/manager Frankie Dunn (Eastwood) teach her the ropes, with a little help from kindly sidekick Eddie (Freeman). Except he doesn't teach girls. Like Frankie always says, "Girlie tough ain't enough." Maybe if he knew a bit more about women he'd still have a relationship with his daughter who, for years now, has returned his weekly letters unopened. But Maggie's no quitter. She takes a deep breath and hits him, right where it hurts, with a million dollar movie monologue, and Frankie's powerless to resist...
"I'm 32, Mr. Dunn," she says, "and I'm here celebrating the fact that I spent another year scraping dishes and waitressing which is what I've been doing since 13, and according to you I'll be 37 before I can even throw a decent punch, which I have to admit, after working on this speed bag for a month may be the God's simple truth. Other truth is, my brother's in prison, my sister cheats on welfare by pretending one of her babies is still alive, my daddy's dead, and my momma weighs 312lbs. If I was thinking straight I'd go back home, find a used trailer, buy a deep fryer and some Oreos. Problem is, this the only thing I ever felt good doing. If I'm too old for this then I got nothing. That enough truth to suit you?"
"What interested me about Million Dollar Baby is the fact that it isn't really a boxing story," reveals Eastwood. "It's a love story about a person who is distressed about his non-existent relationship with his daughter, and who then finds a sort of surrogate daughter in this young girl who is dying to make her mark on the world as a boxer."
"This is a love story, plain and simple," agrees Freeman. "The relationships between Frankie and Maggie, between Scrap and Frankie – it's all of a piece."
"Why does someone want to become a boxer?" asks Hilary Swank. "To go in the ring and hit and be hit is not something I really understood until I started training for this film. But for Maggie, not only is boxing her way out, it's something that she loves. I can certainly relate, because growing up, my family lived in a trailer and we didn't have a lot of money. I started doing plays at the age of nine. It's what I loved and I wanted to do it forever, and I connected to that part of Maggie."
Besides the a-list acting involved, Swank had a lot of serious boxing training to endure, ultimately performing all of her own on-screen fight scenes. "I'd never worked with Hilary before," says Eastwood, "but I had met her on several occasions before and I knew just by the way she moved that she had good athletic ability. I had no doubts about her acting at all, but I knew that her success in this film would depend on how diligently she would train to get this role under her belt. And she did. She has a work ethic that's unparalleled."
"To get the opportunity to work with Clint was amazing," Swank enthuses. "It really was a dream come true. And Morgan is incredible, so full of grace."
"It's rare that you get the opportunity to work with someone you like and have a history with," says Freeman, equally enamoured with his cast mates. "Clint is still the same director he was when I worked with him on Unforgiven. He never gets in the way. He tells you what the shot is going to be and suggests maybe walking this way or that. And then he lets his actors do their job. I'd pay to work with him."
If you haven't seen this yet, now's your chance to see what all the fuss is about. Believe us when we say it lives up to its reputation. And if you have seen it, well, we reckon it's time you saw it again. Either way, it's what your list has been waiting for.
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