Million Dollar Baby

Cate Blanchett and Meryl Streep may be the chameleons of acting, but Hilary Swank is made out of modeling clay. You saw this in Boys Don't Cry (her first and, fingers crossed, not only Oscar) and you'll see the effect again in this film. Working out 4 hours a day, including 1 1/2 hours of boxing, 6 days a week for 4 months helps quite a bit, but you could do that and just be another Ahnuld. Swank morphs before our eyes from a driven, unskilled woman with a dream to a world-class boxer. Because it is a Clint Eastwood film, it is spare and quiet (except when they're pounding the crap out of each other) and forcefully understated. Without giving too much away, a typical Eastwood moral is in store. It is achieved without the usual drama queen atmosphere, making it that much more powerful. Eastwood is creating a better film every time he tries (as opposed to Shyamalan, for instance), although each remains a bit cold. I don't know if that's due to its plainspoken-ness and precision but you, as the audience, are always slightly disengaged from what's happening on screen. It carries an emotional impact, but not as visceral a one as, say, Schindler's List. A minor complaint, however. If Swank doesn't win the Oscar, any respect I may have had for the Academy will vanish.

year: 2004
length: 137 min.
rating: 3.5
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0405159/combined