C&L Oscar prediction for best movie MDB. Hilary Swank for best actress.
Review
This movie is like a classic 40's picture that could have easily have been filmed in black and white while remaining just as powerful. A three character drama, with relationships woven together by love, pain, ambition and desperation. I feel this movie is all about love. The love between a pseudo father-daughter relationship and the relationship between two old friends bound together by pain, remorse, and friendship.
An old boxing trainer/cut man (Clint Eastwood) who has lost his own daughter (we never know the real cause), and a hungry, semi-old amateur fighter (Hilary Swank) trying to climb out from the depths and who has lost her family due to their self obsessed ignorance. Morgan Freeman plays the conduit that allows their relationship to take hold and flourish.
By the third act that love is tested like no other can. Some people are trying to make the case that the movie's only purpose is to shine a favorable light on euthanasia. This is not the case because the movie gives a balanced treatment of the dilemma, questions, and consequences that might be faced in the wake of a disastrous experience. (See the film)
Hilary Swank's heartfelt performance is the driving force behind Million Dollar Baby that helped transcend this movie past the usual cliches of the boxing genre. Combining the perfect roll for Clint Eastwood’s "curmudgeon", and Morgan Freeman’s sobering narration, Million Dollar Baby is worthy to be an Oscar winner.
