Million Dollar Baby
Viewed – 14 March 2009 Blu-ray
I wanted to see this around the time it won all the Oscars, but for one reason or another just didn’t. It was always on my to-do list though, and having loved Gran Torino, Clint Eastwood’s most recent effort, the timing couldn’t be better.
Hilary Swank plays a troubled woman who turns to boxing as a escape from a crappy life where her family don’t give a damn about her. Turning to ageing trainer Clint Eastwood, she eventually persuades him to help her become a boxer, despite his better judgement. Soon enough though she’s in the ring and bringing in the money and making a helluva name for herself.
Like Gran Torino, Clint plays an old fashioned, set in his ways man who finds a new lease of life through this woman, and it’s a heart-warming feel good film with some great fights in the ring made all the more powerful with a female fighter getting herself hurt just to prove herself. Morgan Freeman lends support but I didn’t see anything to warrant his Oscar nod over Eastwood who is truly mesmerising throughout, and I thought Hilary Swank was very deserving of her Oscar, her performance both charming and heart breaking – possibly her finest role to date. It also is very maturely written and doesn’t give you all the answers, leaving me with plenty to think and talk about post-credits.
To put it simply, this is essential.
Verdict: 5 /5
Gran Torino
Viewed – 03 March 2009 Cinema
Isn’t it great when you go into a film expecting something in particular, only to discover its something else entirely? That was the case with this come-back vehicle for screen legend Clint Eastwood after a wilderness period directing rather than starring. Clint plays an elderly war veteran who has just lost his wife, is somewhat estranged from his two sons (despite their best intentions) and lives in a street where most of the neighbours are foreign. All he seems to care about is his faithful dog Daisy and his classic 70′s Gran Torino muscle car.
Playing a mean, suspicious and generally unpleasant old guy would perhaps come as not great viewing if it was another actor, but in Clint’s hands its charming, funny and extremely engrossing, as this set-in-his-ways man befriends a Chinese family after some trouble with a local gang of hoodlums, and discovers a new lease of life through a young boy who he see’s great potential in.
This is a gentle and emotional tale is held together by some great performances, a quality script and moments that pulled this viewer in and made him think about life and that ticking clock in all of us. If you have anyone who is elderly, be it a friend or relative this is guaranteed to tug at the heart strings, and with Clint still trying to be that tough unstoppable hero-with-an-edge honed so perfectly in Dirty Harry and the like, its also makes for great cinema. Additionally, the other cast members shine despite being newcomers (Clint chose real life kids from similar neighbourhoods to reflect authenticity, and it works).
One of the most memorable visits to the cinema I’ve had in a long while.
Verdict: 5 /5
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