Stellar performances, powerful insights and masterful direction apart, what makes Million Dollar Baby so compelling is its simple, direct storytelling.
It is a film that loves its characters and wants us to do the same.
We may not be able to see ourselves in them, but we can see how real they and their dreams are.
Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood) is a former boxer who runs a third-rate gym and trains boxers not for money but because of their talent.
His best friend is Eddie Dupris (Morgan Freeman), who once fought under the name Scrap Iron Dupris and now acts as the caretaker at the gym.
Frankie and Eddie want one more chance to live their failed dreams through a real champ, but every time they get close, the boxer leaves for a better gym and flashier management.
It's a master class in understated acting watching Eastwood and Freeman argue.
Their exchanges are so natural it's tempting to suggest they're not really acting but being themselves -- which is the highest complement you can pay these screen veterans.
That Eastwood has received a best actor nomination and Freeman a best supporting nod is a testament to the quiet genius each brings to their role.
Frankie is a role tailormade for Eastwood's gruff, minimalist acting style, but this time he adds genuine heart and pain.
It's quite possibly his best performance to date and, without question, the best performance of any movie released in 2004.
Freeman delivers just as powerful and moving a performance as the man who understands his friend's despair but won't let him buckle under it.
Into Frankie and Eddie's shared life comes Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank) an eternally optimistic waitress who dreams of being a champion boxer.
By her own admission, Maggie is white trash, but it's not until she and Frankie visit her family that the audience realizes just how trashy her life really was.
The fact she escaped this family makes Maggie a winner already.
Swank's physical and emotional transformation into Maggie is even more astonishing and riveting than what she did in Boys Don't Cry.
There is no question she deserves her best actress nomination and could easily, and justifiably, walk away with a second Oscar.
Eastwood's direction is a marvel of economy and clarity and he balances the film's pathos with some truly touching humour.
It's been ages since Frankie was in a ring but he still loves sparring with Eddie and the local priest in heart-warming scenes.
Those scenes Eastwood shares with Swank in the final 40 minutes of the movie are heart-wrenching.
Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby ranks with such classic boxing films as Raging Bull and Fat City.
It achieves the near impossible by making what is essentially a tragic tale uplifting and inspirational.
(This film is rated PG)
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