On the Aisle...With Squilky
Traditionally to be a successful movie critic, you have to have some sort of "hook". Like Gene Shallet has the wacky hair. Roger Ebert used to be a fat ass, now he's a big pile of extra skin. Rex Reed is flamboyantly gay. So today, as I review Million Dollar Baby, I'm typing this wearing nothing but a leopard print thong. You'll have to take my word for it...
Million Dollar Baby... Going into this movie, I was expecting more of a Raging Bull or Rocky type movie. Million Dollar Baby is quite different. There isn't a lot of gore or hellacious beatings like in Rocky. Although there is one scene when Hillary Swank breaks her nose that is pretty gross. I guess they went easy of the blood because it was a female lead. I think viewers may have been turned off watching a woman going the distance in a 12 round title fight.
The boxing in the movie is really secondary to the relationship that developes between Hillary Swank and Clint Eastwood. They definitely have some great chemistry together. It's almost like watching a closely knit father and daughter team. I guess old Clint is a softy inside after all. What sad is that Clint does the stereotypical old man move of wearing his pants up around his nipples. Not sure if this was part of the character, or just Clint being an old man. Hard to see Dirty Harry so old and rinkly.
The beauty of the movie is how Clint Eastwood, Hillary Swank and Morgan Freeman all use boxing to fill voids in their lives. You have three very different people, all with short comings and hardships. Three seemingly good people, who have had bad things happen to them throughout their lives.
So don't expect a true sports movie. There's a good deal of Million Dollar Baby that doesn't take place in the gym or the ring. I would have liked to see more of the training that made Hillary Swanks character who she was. She sort of went from being clumsy and uncoordinated to knocking people out. My favorite parts of the Rocky movies are his training sessions. Seeing how he developed speed, stamina and power. That's something lacking in Million Dollar Baby. But overall it's a good story, just different than what I was expecting. On a scale of 1-10, 10 being best, I would give Million Dollar Baby an 8.5.
This is a thonged up Squilky....on the aisle!
Million Dollar Baby... Going into this movie, I was expecting more of a Raging Bull or Rocky type movie. Million Dollar Baby is quite different. There isn't a lot of gore or hellacious beatings like in Rocky. Although there is one scene when Hillary Swank breaks her nose that is pretty gross. I guess they went easy of the blood because it was a female lead. I think viewers may have been turned off watching a woman going the distance in a 12 round title fight.
The boxing in the movie is really secondary to the relationship that developes between Hillary Swank and Clint Eastwood. They definitely have some great chemistry together. It's almost like watching a closely knit father and daughter team. I guess old Clint is a softy inside after all. What sad is that Clint does the stereotypical old man move of wearing his pants up around his nipples. Not sure if this was part of the character, or just Clint being an old man. Hard to see Dirty Harry so old and rinkly.
The beauty of the movie is how Clint Eastwood, Hillary Swank and Morgan Freeman all use boxing to fill voids in their lives. You have three very different people, all with short comings and hardships. Three seemingly good people, who have had bad things happen to them throughout their lives.
So don't expect a true sports movie. There's a good deal of Million Dollar Baby that doesn't take place in the gym or the ring. I would have liked to see more of the training that made Hillary Swanks character who she was. She sort of went from being clumsy and uncoordinated to knocking people out. My favorite parts of the Rocky movies are his training sessions. Seeing how he developed speed, stamina and power. That's something lacking in Million Dollar Baby. But overall it's a good story, just different than what I was expecting. On a scale of 1-10, 10 being best, I would give Million Dollar Baby an 8.5.
This is a thonged up Squilky....on the aisle!
2 Comments:
so was there a scene where Hillary Swank has to chase a chicken .. beacsue her grizled coach says that if you can catch a chicken she'll bbe able to catch apollo?
Nope :-(. Clint Eastwood is no Burgess Meredeth. A crazy scene like that would have really made the movie more enjoyable for me. Hillary Swank going down to the freezer at the butcher shop and pounding some rib eye steaks with her bare hands :-).
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