There are movies that are tragic because they are bad and movies that are tragic because they are good. Million Dollar Baby is tragic because it is great. This film follows a young hopeful named Maggie (Hilary Swank) who seeks training to become a great boxer. She is trained by the reluctant Frank Dunn (Clint Eastwood) who refuses to train girls. Her journey to greatness is bittersweet and she finds herself confronting her own limitations and defying the expectations of her white trash family. Clint Eastwood does double duty as director as well and this film earned him a second Oscar for direction, but all of his talent means very little when compared to the performance given by Hilary Swank. This film takes the struggle for greatness and humanizes it into one of the best films of the decade.
Painful and beautiful in a way that rips your heart out and makes you wonder if it was worth it.
Deserving of all of the praise it has earned and an easy one to award…
4.5 out of 5
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