Sunday, March 06, 2005
Million Dollar Baby (2004)
Director: Clint Eastwood
See January for:
The Aviator
Finding Neverland
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
Closer
See February for:
Ray
Sunrise
Love
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Male and Female
* Warning the following analysis contains a discussion of the entire film – including the ending.
As I stepped from the theater my initial reaction to Million Dollar Baby was: “Why on earth would I want to witness this awful, awful story!?!” (Now that I am a few days from the brutality I would make the same statement, but I would remove the ‘!’, changing it to a question from a pissed-off question. This is the same reaction I had upon seeing Clint Eastwood’s previous film, Mystic River.) Sure, Million Dollar Baby is an extremely well crafted film telling a compelling story. Sure the actors interact wonderfully as an ensemble, each giving a great performance. But it is a brutally awful story – and as far as I can tell – it is a brutal awful story told for no good reason. Why do I say: ‘no good reason’? Certain films tell awful, tragic stories from which you can glean a purpose for its telling. I could not with Million Dollor Baby. It is not telling a true story (think The Pianist), it is not exposing an injustice in hopes of righting it (think Mississippi Burning), it is not a cautionary tale (think Wall St.). It is simply an agonizingly brutal story. So why would I want to see this?
Now to be clear, it is not a bad film. As far as its cinematic merits go it is a fantastic film, probably Eastwood’s best.
The first 3/4 s of the film is Rocky with a woman, Rockette if you will. Hillary Swank is Rocky and Eastwood and Morgan Freeman split the role of Mickey. Both men have seen plenty of brutality and tragedy over their years in boxing. Both men are bound forever by the awful fight in which Freeman’s character, Eddie Dupris, lost his eye. Eastwood’s character, Frankie Dunn, is still haunted by this event, believing he should have stopped the fight before Eddie was hurt so badly. Further, Frankie agonizes over not seeing his estranged daughter to whom he has written a letter a week for many years in hopes of reconciliation. Each letter is returned unopened. These two events, (and others hinted at but unexplored in the film) find poignant expression on screen in the creases of Eastwood’s weathered face.
Swank’s character, Maggie Fitzgerald, has seen 30 fewer years than Eddie and Frankie, but her 32 years have been filled with poverty and family dysfunction. Boxing is the only thing she feels good doing, she tells Frankie. And after repeatedly refusing to train Maggie, Frankie relents and takes her soaring to the top of the boxing world. The relationship between boxer and manager evolves beautifully into a surrogate father and daughter bond. This beautiful, slow emerging relationship is the triumphant of Million Dollar Baby. Add in Eddie as the wise, compassionate mediator between Frankie and Maggie and you have a heart-warming tale of three misfits finding new meaning in their lives through this unlikely relationship. Wonderful.
What would have happened in the climatic boxing scene if this were Rocky (or Rockette), is Maggie would have lost (a al Rocky) or won (a al Rocky II). Either ending (the bitter-sweet or sweet-sweet) would have satisfied; instead we get unmitigated, unnecessary awfulness. After being sucker punched after the bell by the vicious East German (no kidding) champ, Maggie falls, hits her neck on the stool and is paralyzed. The remainder of the film is agonizing, as we see Maggie hopelessly spiraling into depression as it becomes clear she will never move again or breathe without a respirator. Throw in scenes with her pitiless loser family and close-ups of bedsores and it all becomes unbearable. After suffering through this excruciating final act we get to the actual climax, Frankie granting Maggie’s final request by killing Maggie as she sleeps. Frankie absconds never to be seen again.
To be sure, the emotional impact of the final ¼ of the film is devastating and raw, but I must maintain, purposeless beyond eliciting agony in the viewer. Returning to my initial question: “Why on earth would I want to witness this awful, awful story?” Answer: “I don’t.”
Should you see it? If you think seeing a very fine film is worth enduring a brutally awful story.
See January for:
The Aviator
Finding Neverland
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
Closer
See February for:
Ray
Sunrise
Love
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Male and Female
* Warning the following analysis contains a discussion of the entire film – including the ending.
As I stepped from the theater my initial reaction to Million Dollar Baby was: “Why on earth would I want to witness this awful, awful story!?!” (Now that I am a few days from the brutality I would make the same statement, but I would remove the ‘!’, changing it to a question from a pissed-off question. This is the same reaction I had upon seeing Clint Eastwood’s previous film, Mystic River.) Sure, Million Dollar Baby is an extremely well crafted film telling a compelling story. Sure the actors interact wonderfully as an ensemble, each giving a great performance. But it is a brutally awful story – and as far as I can tell – it is a brutal awful story told for no good reason. Why do I say: ‘no good reason’? Certain films tell awful, tragic stories from which you can glean a purpose for its telling. I could not with Million Dollor Baby. It is not telling a true story (think The Pianist), it is not exposing an injustice in hopes of righting it (think Mississippi Burning), it is not a cautionary tale (think Wall St.). It is simply an agonizingly brutal story. So why would I want to see this?
Now to be clear, it is not a bad film. As far as its cinematic merits go it is a fantastic film, probably Eastwood’s best.
The first 3/4 s of the film is Rocky with a woman, Rockette if you will. Hillary Swank is Rocky and Eastwood and Morgan Freeman split the role of Mickey. Both men have seen plenty of brutality and tragedy over their years in boxing. Both men are bound forever by the awful fight in which Freeman’s character, Eddie Dupris, lost his eye. Eastwood’s character, Frankie Dunn, is still haunted by this event, believing he should have stopped the fight before Eddie was hurt so badly. Further, Frankie agonizes over not seeing his estranged daughter to whom he has written a letter a week for many years in hopes of reconciliation. Each letter is returned unopened. These two events, (and others hinted at but unexplored in the film) find poignant expression on screen in the creases of Eastwood’s weathered face.
Swank’s character, Maggie Fitzgerald, has seen 30 fewer years than Eddie and Frankie, but her 32 years have been filled with poverty and family dysfunction. Boxing is the only thing she feels good doing, she tells Frankie. And after repeatedly refusing to train Maggie, Frankie relents and takes her soaring to the top of the boxing world. The relationship between boxer and manager evolves beautifully into a surrogate father and daughter bond. This beautiful, slow emerging relationship is the triumphant of Million Dollar Baby. Add in Eddie as the wise, compassionate mediator between Frankie and Maggie and you have a heart-warming tale of three misfits finding new meaning in their lives through this unlikely relationship. Wonderful.
What would have happened in the climatic boxing scene if this were Rocky (or Rockette), is Maggie would have lost (a al Rocky) or won (a al Rocky II). Either ending (the bitter-sweet or sweet-sweet) would have satisfied; instead we get unmitigated, unnecessary awfulness. After being sucker punched after the bell by the vicious East German (no kidding) champ, Maggie falls, hits her neck on the stool and is paralyzed. The remainder of the film is agonizing, as we see Maggie hopelessly spiraling into depression as it becomes clear she will never move again or breathe without a respirator. Throw in scenes with her pitiless loser family and close-ups of bedsores and it all becomes unbearable. After suffering through this excruciating final act we get to the actual climax, Frankie granting Maggie’s final request by killing Maggie as she sleeps. Frankie absconds never to be seen again.
To be sure, the emotional impact of the final ¼ of the film is devastating and raw, but I must maintain, purposeless beyond eliciting agony in the viewer. Returning to my initial question: “Why on earth would I want to witness this awful, awful story?” Answer: “I don’t.”
Should you see it? If you think seeing a very fine film is worth enduring a brutally awful story.
