10/2/08Although the film is now four years old, I finally watched it for the first time last night. I remember the Academy Awards that year when Hilary Swank took home the Oscar for Best Actress. Now I know why. Million Dollar Baby is one of those movies that rarely ever come around. It is too good to be true on every single level, i.e. Directing*, Supporting Characters*, Writing, etc. (*=Oscar win) Clint Eastwood has defined himself as one of the greatest story tellers in cinema. For this film, he had a lot of help from incredible storyteller Paul Haggis, who penned the script. On the surface, it looks like just another boxing movie. But at its heart, the story has absolutely nothing to do with fighting in the ring. It has everything to do with fighting for what you believe in. The movie takes an unexpected turn a little more than halfway through, and the ending is just as surprising. Being a critic, it would be my job to critique the film. But given that there is nothing for me to critique, I will tell you what I felt throughout my experience of watching this movie. The movie is flawless. Morgan Freeman gives one of his absolute best performances and the Oscar was well deserved. Every single person was so believable in their characters, and that is what sold the movie for me. I laughed, I got angry (literally screaming at the screen), I was happy, and I was sad. But most of all, I cried my eyes out. Sobbed. No movie, including Titanic, has ever done that to me. I felt for these characters. I wanted to reach into the screen and touch them, hug them, give them support, let them know that I cared. Movies like this rarely ever get made. They rarely ever come around. But when they do, they seem to draw the best of the best, and Million Dollar Baby was definitely a knockout performance from all who were involved.
Critic: A
Fan: A+
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