Winner Takes All

Million Dollar Baby is another latter-Eastwood triumph, though not quite the "best picture" quality that some reviews might have you think. The story is essentially an expertly presented but standard young-boxer/grizzled-trainer movie. Of that genre, Rocky was one of the first to have our hero not actually win the title but merely win a moral, yet still crowd-pleasing, victory. This film takes that irony to an incredible length. That plot-twist alone (and surprisingly, I had not an inkling of that twist from any newspaper or online review) is supposed to be enough to turn the genre on its head.

I'm not convinved that the twist does anything more than add an impressive dramatic last act to the film. Of course, adding well-played dramatic twists should be a good thing, right? OK, I'll stop quibbling. It is good.

All around, the film's production values, settings, cast, acting, etc are really top-notch, quite the equal of Unforgiven and Mystic River. All the generic characters are played by fine actors who are directed to the utmost; even a throwaway bit by a clueless gym-rat is presented with dignity and spirit.  The basic direction here is "underplay everything" - voices are quiet, faces slack, movements slow. The counterpoints to this understatement are the boxing scenes, which are quick and to the point rather than overlong slugfests.

Two cinematic quibbles (if I may): when the cinematography can be seen, it is clear, muted, and just right. But too often it's just plain dark. And though the music is, again, understated, the plaintive piano keys or guitar pluckings don't really work well, and when the musical theme is finished off with a soft orchestral chord, it strikes the false notes which are otherwise avoided in the film.

BTW, were you aware that Eastwood has now directed some 25 films, including the three already mentioned? Among the notable: Play Misty For Me,  The Eiger Sanction, Honkytonk Man, Bird, White Hunter Black Heart, The Bridges of Madison Country, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.  He's next filming Flags of Our Fathers, an Iwo Jima WWII flick, to be produced by Steven Spielberg.