"If there's magic in boxing, it's the magic of fighting battles beyond endurance, beyond cracked ribs, ruptured kidneys and detached retinas. It's the magic of risking everything for a dream that nobody sees but you."
I went into this movie thinking it was going to be a typical film about boxing, the underdog goes the distance and faces adversity to achieve the title, and this was sort of like that, but a little different. When I think of movies like this I think of the Rocky movies, since there are so many of them and they have the typical plot that I am familiar with. Well, when it came to Million Dollar Baby, I was surprised. It was about boxing, but it was a different story than the Rocky films. As it should be. They both have raw, emontional, relatable stories, just told and portrayed differently. For one thing, Million Dollar Baby is about a girl boxer and a hardended trainer who doesn't want to help her.
So, why would a boxing movie win Best Picture? Well, this isn't your typical boxing movie...or maybe it is and Rocky did win Best Picture in 1976. So, what makes movies like this so good and relatable for people? Well, it's about going after a dream. Even if it's a dream you have all by yourself and no one else believes in you and you want that dream more than anything. It's about proving yourself. Showing how through determination and adversity we can succeed and yeah, we will almost always have obstacles that get in our way, but we get there one way or another.
In Maggie Fitzgerald's (Hilary Swank) case, she got there, but then almost lost it all when she did. And Frankie (Clint Eastwood) learned how to be the father he never could be to his own daughter.
The acting in this movie was phenomenal and I personally loved how Eddie "Scrap-Iron" Dupris (Morgan Freeman) narrated the film and how it was all basically told through his perspective. Then in the end we find out he is writing to Frankie's daughter and showing her how great of a man he truly was. That was some cool symbolism right there and I wonder if he knew where she was and whether he would also get the same "Return to Sender" notice on the letter.
What was so emotional about this movie was not only the fact that Frankie warmed up to Maggie and grew to care about her as his own, but that Maggie ended up the way she did. At least she got a shot. Not the title, but a shot and that is what she wanted. That's why she was so persistent and determined to have Frankie train her because she believed that he could get her there. She didn't want to continue living the way she was, just existing. Not being able to move. Then Frankie having to do it. I also love that he loved what "mo cuishle" meant right before he gave her the shot to make her go to sleep. It was a heartbreakingly beautiful moment.
This film was exceptional well acted by everyone involved and it deserved to win Best Picture of the year for 2004. It touches us, makes us cry, makes us think and relate. That's what a good movie does and this one hit all of those things.
I wonder if Frankie ever reconnected with his daughter Katy again...I guess we'll never know.
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