Clint Eastwood has proven himself not only as a great actor, but a great director, one of the best directors working today. Some may see the name Clint Eastwood and the image that might come to mind is Dirty Harry Callahan, but there's so much more to Eastwood, and in his films he has displayed an expertise in taking the elements of a familiar genre and turning that genre upside down, turning it into something different, as he did in his Oscar winning 1992 film Unforgiven. Unforgiven had the elements of a traditional Western, but in Eastwood's hands it became something different than what you would see in a traditional gunslinger drama.
Million Dollar Baby is the story of Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood), an aging boxing trainer and manager who runs a small gym with his friend Eddie Dupris (Morgan Freeman, who also starred with Eastwood in Unforgiven), a former boxer with a blind eye due to a boxing injury. Dunn, as portrayed by Eastwood, is a man with a lot going on below the surface of his gruff exterior. We learn in the film that Dunn has been estranged from his daughter for many years. He writes her every week, but each letter is returned to sender, and Dunn keeps the rejected correspondence in a box. We also learn that Dunn goes to Mass every day, and has been doing so for 23 years. We do not ever learn what Dunn thinks he is atoning for, which adds to the complexity of the character.
Morgan Freeman narrates the story, telling us about the day when Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank) arrived at Dunn's gym. She's a waitress from Missouri, and determined to have a better life for herself through boxing. She's inexperienced but determined, spending hours at the gym training by herself. Dupris is impressed by her will and determination. Maggie wants Dunn to train her; he refuses, saying he doesn't "train girls." Freeman gives a fine performance, as usual, and has great chemistry with both Eastwood and Swank (his great performance earned him an Oscar for best supporting actor).
Article comments