‘Million Dollar Baby’ Download and Reviews

November 27, 2009 by Paul Wall  
Filed under Drama, Sport

“Million Dollar Baby” Movie Details

Million Dollar Baby tagline: Beyond his silence, there is a past. Beyond her dreams, there is a feeling. Beyond hope, there is a memory. Beyond their journey, there is a love.
Million Dollar Baby - DVD Cover

Million Dollar Baby DVD Cover

Actors:
  • Joe D’Angerio
  • Hilary Swank Maggie Fitzgerald
    Morgan Freeman Eddie Scrap-Iron Dupris
    Jay Baruchel Danger Barch
    Mike Colter Big Willie Little
    Lucia Rijker Billie ‘The Blue Bear’
    Brian F. O’Byrne Father Horvak
    Anthony Mackie Shawrelle Berry
    Margo Martindale Earline Fitzgerald
    Riki Lindhome Mardell Fitzgerald
    Michael Pena Omar
    Benito Martinez Billie’s Manager
    Bruce MacVittie Mickey Mack
    David Powledge Counterman at Diner
    Cut Man
    Directors: Clint Eastwood IMDB Rating: 8.2/10 out of 129,263 votes

    “Million Dollar Baby” Movie Review

    “Million Dollar Baby” Plot Summary

    A hardened trainer/manager works with a determined woman in her attempt to establish herself as a boxer.

    Beautifully acted, beautifully shot, intimate and profound

    The thing that initially struck me about Million Dollar Baby was that it was beautifully shot, making excellent use of light and shade, close and far perspectives, angle and slow-motion. Within these techniques, which are used for effect and not over-used to show off, the simple narrative was able to take shape, performed by actors who appreciated its depth and subtlety, so played their roles with reserved emotion and calm understatement that fit their characters perfectly. Lesser performers would’ve made a botch of the roles that Eastwood and Swank crafted to near-perfection

    The movie concerns itself with boxing but is not a boxing movie, rather that’s just the vehicle for its main themes: hope, dreams, determination, success and then loss. Still, it would be facile and glib to ‘use’ boxing in this way and then just gloss over its intricacies… this is where Morgan Freeman’s earthy narration comes into play, telling us all there is to know about training boxers in that same assuring way he told us about Andy Dufresne in The Shawshank Redemption. So we can chart Maggie’s progress without the characters having to pause and explain what’s going on, and Swank herself – playing the role with layers of nervousness, exuberance, doggedness and zeal – provides the perfect canvas for us to see these changes

    The main narrative is simple so shouldn’t be spoiled, however other subplots are constantly at work throughout the movie: Eddie’s own career and his relationship with Frankie, Maggie’s poor background and her relationship with her abhorrent family, Frankie’s long-lost daughter and his taunting interplay with his local priest. None of these runs away with or smothers the movie, nor are they followed through to much conclusion, but they provide intriguing depth to the three main characters as we come to know them in the shadowy expanse of Frankie’s boxing gym. Million Dollar Baby shows you that great films do not need a convoluted storyline or a supercilious screenplay, just great actors and a great cinematographer.

    Million Dollar Baby - Movie Still 1 Million Dollar Baby Movie Still 2 Million Dollar Baby Movie Image 3 Million Dollar Baby Screen Image
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