Million Dollar Baby 2004 123movies

Watch: Million Dollar Baby 2004 123movies, Full Movie Online – Wanting to learn from the best, aspiring boxer Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank) wants Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood) to train her. At the outset, he flatly refuses saying he has no interest in training a girl. Frankie leads a lonely existence, alienated from his only daughter and having few friends. Maggie’s rough around the edges, but shows a lot of grit in the ring and he eventually relents. Maggie not only proves to be the boxer he always dreamed of having under his wing, but a friend who fills the great void he’s had in his life. Maggie’s career skyrockets, but an accident in the ring leads her to ask Frankie for one last favor..
Plot: Despondent over a painful estrangement from his daughter, trainer Frankie Dunn isn’t prepared for boxer Maggie Fitzgerald to enter his life. But Maggie’s determined to go pro and to convince Dunn and his cohort to help her.
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Ratings:

	8.1/10 Votes: 686,797
	90% | RottenTomatoes
	86/100 | MetaCritic
	N/A Votes: 8305 Popularity: 39.578 | TMDB

Reviews:

Unreal! I didn’t expect ‘Million Dollar Baby’ to be so astonishingly brilliant.

I’ve said it many a time before but for full context, I do not read up about films before watching them – aside from making sure the film isn’t part of a franchise, checking the run time and seeing the genre – so I was expecting this to be a cliché-filled, but still great, sports flick. It’s so much more than that.

It’s way more deeper and has an everlasting impact that I hadn’t anticipated. Even across the opening chunk I was predicating the obvious cliché ending, but as the film progresses and, especially, as the final portion rolls around it just absorbed my total attention – I was fully engrossed… hook, line, and sinker. Some film!

The cast are simply stunning. Clint Eastwood gives an absolutely fantastic performance, Hilary Swank is truly sensational – especially at the end, damn – and Morgan Freeman is Morgan Freeman; what an actor and what a voice, using him as narrator was a great move. Elsewhere, and though less dramatically, Jay Baruchel, Anthony Mackie, Margo Martindale and Michael Peña also feature interestingly.

It’s quite the journey the film takes you on, which I just found utterly enthralling to watch unfold. Perfect pacing, perfect acting. I loved watching every second of it and will undoubtedly be revisiting it.

I noted days ago that I was rather surprised to learn that Eastwood’s ‘Unforgiven‘ had been so heavily acclaimed, on this occasion with this 2004 film I am the complete opposite. I don’t care much for awards et al., but I am delighted to see all involved receive their props for this. Chapeau!

Marvellous, just marvellous.

***Female “Rocky” with a downbeat and contradictory close***

Released in 2004 and directed by Clint Eastwood, “Million Dollar Baby” stars Eastwood as a cantankerous boxing trainer who owns a working class gym in Los Angeles, which is maintained by one of his former boxers, the narrator of the story (Morgan Freeman). A waitress from the sticks of Missouri (Hilary Swank) shows up and asks that Frankie (Eastwood) train her, which he refuses to do because she’s too old at 32 and he “doesn’t train girls,” probably because he had an unexplained falling out with his daughter years earlier. Eventually he begrudgingly agrees.

The bulk of the film is basically a female version of “Rocky” (1976), except that I prefer the potent drama in this one. The three main characters are well fleshed-out with an all-around reverent tone, not to mention an occasional bit of mild amusement. Frankie and Maggie (Swank) slowly develop a father/daughter-type relationship and it’s touching.

The third act, however, takes a left turn that is seriously downbeat. It departs from sports movie formula with a message that contradicts everything the first two acts pushed, which is inexplicable. Sure, I ‘get’ the point: A certain person basically sacrifices everything to do what’s (supposedly) best for the situation and honor the will of a dearly loved soul. Nevertheless, it’s a dark turn that leaves a sour taste because it refutes the positive message of the first two-thirds of the story.

The film runs 2 hours, 12 minutes and was shot in Los Angeles.

GRADE: B-/C+

Swank! Eastwood! Freeman!
It would be difficult to imagine a more perfect trio of performers the likes of Hilary Swank, Clint Eastwood, and Morgan Freeman in their respective roles in the emotionally-charged “Million Dollar Baby.”

My favorite scenes were the early sequences in which Maggie (Swank) visits the dowdy boxing gym and co-opts Eastwood’s crusty boxing trainer Frankie into becoming her mentor. Along with the veteran, retired boxer Eddie, played by Freeman, the performances were as electric as the Ali shuffle.

In the overall arc of the story of “Million Dollar Baby,” there were three extraneous subplots: (1) Frankie’s visits to church and his talks with the priest; (2) the story of the mentally-challenged young man named Danger, who appears in the gym and is taunted by the boxers; and (3) Maggie’s family members introduced in two scenes filled with such vulgarity that much of the film’s hard-earned credibility was lost. Not only would the film have worked effectively without the subplots, it would have been a much better film without them.

While Eastwood’s direction was superb, much credit should also go to the designers, especially the stylish work with lighting. I cannot recall a film as dimly lit as this one, and the subdued lighting contributed substantially to the characters and mood evoked in this sensitive film. The three main performances were standouts. But this film was also a very successful team effort.

Big girls don’t cry
If anyone had doubts about the genius of Clint Eastwood, they should run, not walk, to see “Million Dollar Baby”, perhaps the best movie that came out of Hollywood is past year.

Mr. Eastwood has that rare quality in choosing an odd story to bring to the screen. With this film he accomplishes what could be, perhaps, the best movie about boxing in history. In the first place, the story by F. X. Toole, in which the movie is based, is an odd choice. We have seen, so far, men boxers, but there is a world out there where women boxers compete in this sport that is not well known, or not commonly seen. The adaptation by Paul Haggis is excellent.

“Million Dollar Baby” has a rhythm of its own, seldom seen in boxing formula pictures. Thanks to Tom Stern almost black and white cinematography, this sordid world of second class gyms in the poor areas of the inner city, makes the film more interesting in its texture. Enhancing it all is the great musical score that Mr. Eastwood, a jazz enthusiast, has created. Music has always complimented Mr. Eastwood’s work, but never in such a way as in this movie.

If you haven’t seen the film, please stop reading now.

Frankie Dunn, is a man who has trained boxing champions. He is a man at odds with himself. He has demons within him that are tearing away at his soul. We watch him going to mass on a daily basis, but does that qualify him as a devout Catholic? Not according to Father Horvak, who sees a troubled soul in search of redemption.

Frankie’s letters comes back, returned from a daughter that wants nothing to do with him. Frankie, at the beginning of the film, loses the services of one his better boxers because a richer competitor is willing to pay the fighter much more. Frankie keeps the older Eddie “Scrap-Iron” Dupris employed in the gym because he feels guilty in having let this former boxer down at the highest point of Scrap’s career.

Into this world comes Maggie Fitzgerald. She is a young woman who wants to make it as a fighter; she comes from a white trash background and everything is against her. The only reason she has been allowed in the all-male gym is because she has paid six months worth of membership. We watch Maggie as she struggles on her own without any help from Frankie, the man she would like to interest in coaching her. Frankie realizes there is potential in this young woman, who he sees on a daily basis practicing, and he relents. Maggie proves she follows his instructions well. Then we watch her progress as she wins fight after fight until the million dollar fight with the vicious title holder.

The ironic twist toward the end of the movie arrives out of nowhere; it shakes us up because it was totally unexpected. It makes Frankie and Maggie become father and daughter. Because of the guilt he feels in his own life, Frankie does the right thing in accepting the responsibility of the situation.

The ending is the only thing that feels a bit manipulative in the film, although it’s handled with a lot of taste, as it would have been worse in the hands of another, less capable director. The only other complain is that Mr. Eastwood speaks in a whisper, which distracts from what is going on, as we strain our ears to catch every nuance of the brilliant dialog. Also, the voice over by Morgan Freeman’s character is at times, unintelligible.

This is a film totally dominated by Clint Eastwood. As an actor, he brings to the role total credibility as the tormented soul inside Frankie. Hilary Swank makes a brilliant Maggie, the ambitious girl that gets much more than what she bargained for. Ms. Swank has the best moment of her career after her work in “Boys Don’t Cry”. Working with the right elements, Ms. Swank is an actress that works with little gestures to achieve her input in the character she is playing.

Morgan Freeman is excellent as the beaten Scrap, a man who “could have been a contender”. He underplays this character with sensational results. Brian O’Byrne, a theater actor who has been seen in two important plays this year in the New York stages, makes an impression as Father Hovark, who seems to understand Frankie. Margo Martindale is convincing as Maggie’s mother.

Sometimes it takes a lot for a film to be good. All the right elements were gathered by Clint Eastwood for this movie. It makes one wonder what will his next project be, or if he can surpass the milestone he created with “Million Dollar Baby”.

Other Information:

Original Language en
Runtime 2 hr 12 min (132 min)
Budget 30000000
Revenue 216763646
Status Released
Rated PG-13
Genre Drama, Sport
Director Clint Eastwood
Writer Paul Haggis, F.X. Toole
Actors Hilary Swank, Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman
Country United States
Awards Won 4 Oscars. 67 wins & 86 nominations total
Production Company N/A
Website N/A

Technical Information:

Sound Mix DTS, Dolby Digital, SDDS
Aspect Ratio 2.39 : 1
Camera Panavision Panaflex Platinum, Panavision C-Series Lenses
Laboratory Technicolor, Hollywood (CA), USA (color) (prints)
Film Length 3,556 m (Sweden)
Negative Format 35 mm (Kodak Vision 250D 5246, Vision 500T 5279)
Cinematographic Process Panavision (anamorphic)
Printed Film Format 35 mm (Kodak Vision 2383)