Review of Million Dollar Baby (2004) by Jiana W — 22 Apr 2013

It has become painfully obvious to me that if you've seen one boxing movie, you've pretty much seen them all. Boxing movies are always, ALWAYS about people who come from nowhere and are seen by their peers and family as never amounting to anything in their lives, overcoming the odds against them to be successful. This movie was on its way to being that typical boxing flick until an unexpected moment changes everything and, as a result, I think set this movie apart from many of the others in its genre. I guess a key difference between this story and a lot of the others is also the fact that this was is not based on actual events and the others are.

But Million Dollar Baby is unflinching in its portrayal of the brutality of the sport. One scene, in which Maggie gets her nose broken in a fight and has Frankie "fix it", almost made me freakin' vomit. There's really good acting here from Swank and Eastwood. Clint doesn't "scowl and growl" as much as he usually does in this one. I liked Jay Baruchel as Danger, but the goofy Southern accent had to go. Also, if I see Morgan Freeman as the token negro character one more time I'm gonna scream. He's always THAT guy, lol.