Packing a punch of raw emotions

Million Dollar Baby; 2:12; PG-13, for violence, disturbing images, thematic material and language; Grade: A+

In case you hadn’t noticed, Million Dollar Baby cleaned up at the Oscars (including winning Best Picture). And wow, does it ever deserve the recognition it’s gotten. It’d be easy for somebody to say too much about this movie, thereby diminishing your enjoyment of watching it, so I’m going to do my best to keep this review short, fairly vague, and to the point.

If you enjoy a good drama, you need to take whatever measures are necessary to watch Clint Eastwood’s greatest film tonight. Don’t wait until tomorrow because by then some loser might’ve opened their big mouth, spoiling what shouldn’t be spoiled. Besides, The Aviator only stayed at our theater for one lousy stinking week, and there’s no guarantee that Million Dollar Baby will exceed that.

For those who don’t care about the Oscars (and I know there are a lot of us), you might not have heard about this low-budget independent production. Clint Eastwood plays an aging trainer, reluctant to take an ambitious female boxer under his wing. With this over-simplified synopsis, it might sound like any other predictable sports movie. It is nothing of the sort.

Million Dollar Baby is a story of real trauma. It highlights human fallacy. At the same time, it is a story of a person’s ability to rise gloriously above the expectations of their surroundings. More than anything, Million Dollar Baby is a story that shines a brilliant light upon the power of love and compassion.

Million Dollar Baby will take you on an emotional whirlwind. Every single possible emotion you can think of will be experienced, and to the fullest capacity. Don’t be surprised if your emotional dam is breached, and you burst at the seams.

If you really want to, you can find minor flaws in Million Dollar Baby, like the annoying comedic relief boxer (you’ll know him when you see him), or the lack of good music (Eastwood scored it himself). But that’s nitpicking, and I don’t enjoy picking nits. This is a great, great movie.

Morgan Freeman and Hillary Swank both earned their Oscars for acting. Especially Swank—man, do love her. Paul Haggis also deserves his screenwriting Oscar, for penning a script that is forever engaging, never predictable, and simply amazing.

A few people have been turned off by Million Dollar Baby, perceiving a controversial political message. They’ve missed the point. This movie isn’t motivated by politics, but pure, raw emotion, and lots of it.

Thank you, Mr. Eastwood. We can only hope you keep doing your thing.