X
- 2004
- PG-13
- Warner Bros.
- 2 h 12 m
- 2004
- PG-13
- Warner Bros.
- 2 h 12 m
Summary Two retired boxers who run a Los Angeles gym are caught off guard when a woman approaches them with her dream of stepping into the ring.
Directed By: Clint Eastwood
Written By: Paul Haggis, F.X. Toole
- 2004
- PG-13
- Warner Bros.
- 2 h 12 m
- 2004
- PG-13
- Warner Bros.
- 2 h 12 m
Million Dollar Baby
7.5
Where to Watch
Summary Two retired boxers who run a Los Angeles gym are caught off guard when a woman approaches them with her dream of stepping into the ring.
Directed By: Clint Eastwood
Written By: Paul Haggis, F.X. Toole
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 39 Critic Reviews
86
90% Positive
35 Reviews
35 Reviews
5% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
5% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 39 Critic Reviews
86
90% Positive
35 Reviews
35 Reviews
5% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
5% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Eastwood tells the story at a pace well under the Hollywood speed limit, tosses in details so beguiling they seem about to sprout into motion pictures of their own and bathes his subjects in shadows as lovely as those in any Rembrandt.
This heartbreaking film, with its rich performances and simple eloquence, lays claim to greatness.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 494 User Ratings
7.5
82% Positive
403 Ratings
403 Ratings
6% Mixed
30 Ratings
30 Ratings
12% Negative
61 Ratings
61 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 494 User Ratings
7.5
82% Positive
403 Ratings
403 Ratings
6% Mixed
30 Ratings
30 Ratings
12% Negative
61 Ratings
61 Ratings
Unreal! I didn't expect 'Million Dollar Baby' to be so astonishingly brilliant.
I've said it many a time before but for full context, I do not read up about films before watching them - aside from making sure the film isn't part of a franchise, checking the run time and seeing the genre - so I was expecting this to be a cliché-filled, but still great, sports flick. It's so much more than that.
It's way more deeper and has an everlasting impact that I hadn't anticipated. Even across the opening chunk I was predicating the obvious cliché ending, but as the film progresses and, especially, as the final portion rolls around it just absorbed my total attention - I was fully engrossed... hook, line, and sinker. Some film!
The cast are simply stunning. Clint Eastwood gives an absolutely fantastic performance, Hilary Swank is truly sensational - especially at the end, damn - and Morgan Freeman is Morgan Freeman; what an actor and what a voice, using him as narrator was a great move. Elsewhere, and though less dramatically, Jay Baruchel, Anthony Mackie, Margo Martindale and Michael Peña also feature interestingly.
It's quite the journey the film takes you on, which I just found utterly enthralling to watch unfold. Perfect pacing, perfect acting. I loved watching every second of it and will undoubtedly be revisiting it.
I noted days ago that I was rather surprised to learn that Eastwood's 'Unforgiven' had been so heavily acclaimed, on this occasion with this 2004 film I am the complete opposite. I don't care much for awards et al., but I am delighted to see all involved receive their props for this. Chapeau!
Marvellous, just marvellous.
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Million Dollar Baby is not that type of sports drama movie which we see now and then. It's so much different. It is one of it's kind.
Everything in this movie; plot, direction, acting, pace setting, tone built-up was great. The scenes between two main leads are so good, you want more. The pace and tone setting was also good. Everything in the movie looked real, not forceful. There was nothing about this movie which I didn't like. The way this movie is made, by the end of the movie you get touched by the movie.
Overall, a treat for movie fans who love sports drama. You must give it a try, if you haven't.
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As good as "Unforgiven." Or, to put it another way, as good as any movie Eastwood has ever directed.
Eastwood takes the audience to raw, profoundly moving places. If you fear strong emotions, this is not for you. But if you want to see Hollywood filmmaking at its most potent, Eastwood has delivered the real deal.
Baby may not be quite as compelling as Mystic River or Unforgiven, but there's something so stirring, and disquieting, too, in his quest that we cannot help but pay close attention to him. In the middle of his long career's third act, he's still searching for the secrets in things with striking resolve. You certainly can't ask more than that of any 75-year-old ex-gunslinger.
With his trademark spare, unfussy direction and jumping into the story approach, Eastwood subtly establishes the themes of faith, loss and love and then he raises the drama to a different level.
A compendium of every cliché from every bad boxing melodrama ever made, Million Dollar Baby tries to transcend its cornball overfamiliarity with the qualities that have long characterized Eastwood's direction -- it's solemn, inflated and dull.
I was truly impressed with this film. It is one of the most impressive and intense that I have seen in a while and I believe that it couldn't have had any other destiny than winning the Oscar for Best Motion Picture, in that distant year of 2005. Its also, for me and until now, the best film by Clint Eastwood, where he not only plays one of the most important and complex roles, but also directs. Remarkable!
The film is basically about a young girl from very modest backgrounds who finds her life's course in boxing. The problem is that she is a woman, and all boxing academies reject her because of that. However, she will be able to capture the attention of two coaches, former retired boxers, who accept the task of training and teaching her, each of whom has a past linked to boxing and very complex personal lives. To knew more, its best to see the film, its worth every minute.
Clint Eastwood is the man here. He had already proven himself to be a great actor and great director, that wasn't new when he released this film, but it is difficult to conceive of something that can be even better than this. Eastwood's skilful hand and attentive and detailed style are everywhere and earned him the Oscar for Best Director that year, with all merit and fairness. The script, based on tales by F.X. Toole, was written by Paul Haggis and is excellent. And here I think Eastwood took a chance, given that Haggis had made a career as a screenwriter more associated with television than cinema. But the risk was well rewarded, and the proof is Haggis' collaboration on several Eastwood films from then on.
The cast is not very large and that is a good thing, as it gave the actors time and space to shine. The star is Clint Eastwood, who plays a tough guy with feelings and an unresolved past. Next to her is Hillary Swank, a young actress full of personality and who had already shone in “The Next Karate Kid”, also in a female action character. She was impressive and reached here one of the pinnacles of her career, winning the Oscar for Best Actress for the second time, which is always impressive for an actor. Another actor who deserves a note in this film, and who managed to collect the Oscar for Best Secondary Actor, is the impeccable and already veteran Morgan Freeman. However, and despite being a great actor, this was the only award that the Hollywood Academy has given him so far.
Technically it is an impeccable film. Cinematography provides us with excellent footage and a masterful use of colour, shadow and contrast to express and amplify feelings and moods. The sets and costumes are excellent. The sound effects and soundtrack, very discreet, fulfil their function with merit but without taking our attention away from the story told. The post-production work was also done with care and attention.
Anyone who says that this film is just a boxing film is totally wrong and made a reductive reading of this film. Its a film based on boxing, but it goes far beyond that, offering us much more: a story of poverty, ambition, greed; a story of dreams that are gradually crushed, punch by punch, by the harshness of life and reality; a story about pain, death and loss, in which highly pertinent and debatable moral questions are raised.
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It’s a boring story with a pointless twist. The pacing isn’t good. On the positive side, Swank gives a fantastic performance.
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Bottom Line: Best Picture? Iâ
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Million Dollar Baby fait partie de ces films qui n'ont qu'un seul but : faire chialer le public ; il n'a d'ailleurs été fait que dans ce seul but avec les 3 petites notes de piano récurrentes qui n'ont pas d'autre but que d'ouvrir les vannes (en grand).
A cet effet, le scénario met tous les moyens en oeuvre pour que les vannes restent ouvertes non seulement au bon moment mais également un peu avant, progressivement, et de plus en plus jusqu'à l'inondation finale. Clint en fait donc des tonnes, à la fois dans le pathos et la misère sociale, à faire mourir de honte les Misérables de notre grand Victor Hugo national.
Or, trop c'est trop, on n'est quand même pas complètement con même si son chiale avec les autres, parce que c'est triste, oui, mais c'est clairement exagéré et le mot est faible, très faible. On en arrive à un tel point que lorsqu'ils coupent la pauvrette, on s'esclaffe... la coupe est pleine, Clint, arrête ça déborde ! mais rassurez-vous, on garde des larmes en réserve pour la toute fin.
C'est dommage d'en avoir rajouté autant, car la crédibilité est sérieusement mise à mal, y compris lors de "l'accident", invraisemblable... Dommage également pour la justesse des sentiments, de cette amitié qui se construit entre la boxeuse et son manager, entre la fille paumée et le vieux bougre. Même qu'on s'habituait au rabâchage de la voix off du barbon Morgan Freeman, toujours prêt à pérorer à la moindre occasion...
Le drame, que dis-je, le mélodrame est un genre très difficile et on a vite fait de tomber dans la caricature, ce dont ce bon vieux Clint ne se prive décidément pas à maintes reprises. Encore dommage pour Hilary pas vraiment hilarante sur ce coup mais qui sait rester la plus sobre des trois entre elle et les bonzes désabusés : elle interprète excellement cette ingénue du malheur...
...malgré les seaux d'eau que lui balance Papy parce que Papy Clint trouve qu'il n'y en a pas assez. Tout cela est gâché, sévèrement gâché alors que pourtant la mise en scène est d'une remarquable précision... j'allais dire "sobre" mais avec un scénar' pareil, on repassera.
La pleurnicherie à un million de dollars donc... mais qui ne les vaut certainement pas.
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will i watch million dollar baby or will i stick a needle in my eye. Its a difficult decision but i think il go with the needle. Why anyone would want to watch this miserable pile of crap is beyond me but the taste of the unwashed masses generally does. Avoid like the plague
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Production Company
Warner Bros.,
Lakeshore Entertainment,
Malpaso Productions,
Ruddy Productions,
Epsilon Motion Pictures,
StudioCanal
Release Date Dec 15, 2004
Duration 2 h 12 m
Rating PG-13
Tagline Beyond his silence, there is a past. Beyond her dreams, there is a feeling. Beyond hope, there is a memory. Beyond their journey, there is a love.
Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 4 Wins & 7 Nominations
Golden Globes, USA
• 2 Wins & 5 Nominations
Gold Derby Awards
• 1 Win & 9 Nominations
