Million Dollar Baby.

SPOILERS!

Another best director oscar for Clint and rightly so. Million Dollar Baby was made in 2004 and was directed, co-produced, scored and starred Clint, as well as starring Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman.

Clint plays Frankie Dunn, an unappreciated boxing trainer, who has managed some incredible fighters. Maggie Fitzgerald (Swank) is a waitress from a Missouri town, she shows up at the Hit Pit, a run dun Los Angeles gym which is owned and operated by Dunn. Maggie asks Dunn to train her and he initially refuses as he doesn’t train girls. After training hard and with the influence of friend Scrap (Freeman), Dunn agrees to train Maggie. Maggie wins fights and proves she is a natural boxer. Dunn then arranges a title fight for Maggie. She is playing a $1 million match in Las Vegas against women’s champion Billie “The Blue Bear”, an ex-prostitute who has a reputation as a dirty fighter. Maggie has a shaking start, but then begins to dominate. After the round ended, Billie knocks Maggie out with a punch from behind. But before Dunn can pull the stool out of the way, Maggie lands on it, breaking her neck and leaving her a quadriplegic. Medical opinions confirm there is no hope of recovery. Throughout rehabilitation, Dunn never leaves Maggie side. As time passes Maggie develops bedsores and undergoes an amputation for an infected leg. She then asks Dunn to help her die while she can still remember the good times she had. Frankie initially refuses. Maggie then tries to take her life, but is saved by medical staff who then take measures to prevent further suicide attempts. After contemplation, Frankie sneaks in one night, and administers a fatal injection of adrenaline to Maggie, and then disappears for good.

Million Dollar Baby is a beautiful story. The character development of Frankie Dunn is brilliantly portrayed by Clint. As is the characters Maggie and Scrap, portrayed by Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman respectively. The movie was meant with some criticism about the ending, but I disagree with the views that they could have had Maggie triumphing over her disabilities. The film was essentially about the relationship Frankie and Maggie had, and how Maggie made Frankie care again, so the ending was absolutely perfect.

Clint, I am enjoying the last few movies!

90/100