Million Dollar Baby Collector’s Edition
Filed Under: Film, Reviews | Article Tags : DVD review
By: The Dweeb
July 2005
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If you are looking to watch the female version of Rocky, this movie could be for you. Sorta. Million Dollar Baby goes beyond the shallow sports themed film we are so accustomed to seeing, where everyone is a winner at the end and we all live happily ever after. Eastwood’s latest, and what a lot of people consider one of his best (certainly the Academy does) films to date, the script delves into the dark recesses of family issues, religious and ethical values, and the desire and will to climb out from some dark hole somewhere. Its gritty dirty film, containing a more realistic view of the world that most films shy away from, especially in a sports themed film. A lesson in the school of hard knocks, literally even in this case.
Million Dollar is a look at what happens behind the seemingly glamorous world of boxing, among the bottom feeders of the industry. There are no personal trainers here, just a lot of dirt, sweat and hard work by some hopeful who has such a miniscule chance to make it big. But that’s all Maggie (Hilary Swank) has going for her, and on top of that everyone says she’s nuts and can’t do it. That of course only makes her work harder. Eventually she wins over old timer Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood), who at first unwillingly takes her under his wing and takes her places she never thought of going.
The movie starts slowly, but in the middle its turned up a notch. The action sequences are nicely shot, placing the viewer right in the thick of things. The plot moves along so fast in places that I got lost in the middle somewhere as all of a sudden she has the money to buy a house in cash. That part of the story didn’t come up much so I guess some of the lower level fights paid pretty good. Things are going swimmingly for Maggie, until she gets to her big final title fight. Most movies end here with a happy ending, this one comes to a shrieking halt transforming from a feel good flick to a depressing drama that’ll make you want to get drunk afterward. A left hook to the chin from out of nowhere.
The casting couldn’t be more superb, all of them had great on screen chemistry. Watching Eastwood and Morgan Freeman as Eddie Scrap-Iron Dupris throw verbal abuse at each other was wonderful. The humor was a nice break from the starkness of the film. The two gravelly voiced old farts going at it sounded better than the check in counter at an AARP convention. What the hell does that mean? I don’t know either. Hilary Swank also played fantastic in her role as Maggie, and her Oscar win sealed that deal. From Hollywood babe to backwoods tomboy her transformation was incredible to see.
Now this brings me to my commentary about the Oscars this year. Sometimes, I do not understand what the Academy is smoking. Sure this movie is good, but I didn’t think it was so fantastic that it deserved the small pile of statues that it won. Films like The Aviator, Finding Neverland, and Ray I thought were the better choices, especially The Aviator. Clint robbed Martin Scorsese of his first Oscar! All right, that’s the end of my bitching for this year.
There are a couple of versions of the film put out by Warner Bros, following in the footsteps of Clints last film he directed, Mystic River. This is the most expensive edition, the 3 disc containing the soundtrack, coincidentally also music written by Clint Eastwood. Now the having the CD is nice, but not worth the extra money I think. The soundtrack is OK, but its definitely not John Williams material. By the way, as in the last one the insides did not work well the way the discs are held in place. Disc 2 was loose in the package, Warners you need to figure something else out!
For a having a separate featurettes DVD, this package is very sparse in materials. There are only 3 interview/documentaries on here, most of which tell us how great this movie is. How about we decide that? I’ve never seen James Lipton kiss so much ass in my life, you’d think he wants a part in Clint’s next film. I felt that this area of the DVD was a bit disappointing.
So, if you are interested in purchasing Million Dollar Baby I would stick with the collectors version, unless you got to have it all. By all means then get this one.
Reviewer’s Opinion: RENT IT!!
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