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 Million
Dollar Baby Movie Review
What makes this movie
good:
- New
topic—women’s boxing.
- Topic
of the "rules of death."
- Details—Morgan
Freeman and Clint Eastwood shown in “half-shadow” when confronting
Hillary Swank’s character, Maggie Fitzgerald.
- The
believable character of the “not so nice Mom.”
- The
dialogue: “A ghost
walks in.” Very-well
placed and well-cut from the previous scene to this scene when Freeman
speaks the dialogue.
- The
pie and its relationship to the experience of tasting it--this
parallels the dialogue about “going to heaven.”
This detail needed and applicable to the shot of Eastwood in
the end.
- The
church services and scenes of Eastwood with
Priest/Minister/Rector/Pastor. Eastwood does not receive
confirmation and blessing. Eastwood's character does receive
understanding from Freeman's character.
- Detail
of door opening and Eastwood finding returned mail.
- Fooling
the audience, myself, of the possibility of Swank becoming Eastwood's
long lost daughter--Glad the movie didn't turn out as the audience may
have suspected.
These stand out as you
watch the movie. My friend
and I who went both agree this was a very good movie. The other, unknown actors acted and were
directed well.
There is only one
comment my friend made that did not sit well with her.
She criticized Swank’s accent even though Swank did a wonderful
job of making the accent believable and natural.
Why was my friend
bothered by the accent? Because people in Southwest Missouri, as the movie reveals,
do not talk anything close to Maggie Fitzgerald.
Of course this is only a technicality which can be easily fixed by
saying Maggie did move to Southwest Missouri from Alabama.
:-)
My friend was bothered
by how the accent "pigeonholes" the perception of people living
in Southwest Missouri. She was tired of how the accent gave a
"connotation" of this part of the world. I agreed with
her. At least Swank's character also shows the positive side of the
"million dollar" drive that can come
from this part of the world.
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