Gone to America

Saturday 19th 2005f February 2005

Million Dollar Baby

Review

, posted by Anthony during lunch time.

Million Dollar Baby poster

This was interesting. I’d been meaning to see it for a while, and was pushed over the edge by a couple of people’s insistence in the comments to my Oscar Picks entry that it should do well, if not even sweep the board.

I don’t think so. It was all very well made. Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman can all act the pants off most other people, and they’re all comfortably cast. It looks great, sounds great. It’s paced nicely, builds well, contains original elements. But at the end of the day it’s kind of pointless. It’s actually a lot like Mystic River, and seeing it has really helped me figure out what was missing fom that film – it’s the same thing that’s missing here.

It’s a melodrama, like Mystic River, and that’s cool. Like Mystic River, it works hard to get us involved with the characters and get us to feel their pain. This is not that easy to do and Eastwood has it down, but why? Why is he doing it? Usually films that succeed by eliciting a visceral emotional response from the audience are doing it to make some kind of point. The characters grow through suffering, learn something. Change is painful. There’s some insight into the human condition to relate – what does it take to change someone? What are the problems that people have, and what are the solutions to them? Creating a character with a problem and then putting them through the mill until they don’t have it any more is the way most movies work, and it’s great.

Eastwood puts his characters through the mill, no question. But it’s kind of random. The trials they undergo aren’t really designed to improve them or teach them something; it’s just punishment. I don’t want to give away any twists or suprises, but trust me. In the beginning of the movie we discover that Eastwood’s character has some kind of sin buried in his past. We’re not sure exactly what it is, but we know he feels really bad about it. And then we watch him be punished for a little over two hours. Obviously, it’s not relentless. You have to go up before you can go down. But basically it’s punishment.

It’s done very well, and you’d probably have to have a heart of stone not to be moved at some point. But it’s attrition, not atonement. It’s actually pretty sadistic. But I know there’s a lot of people who don’t agree. Please argue your point.

Comments on "Million Dollar Baby"

Comment ID: 2502
At 5:59 am on Thursday 24th 2005f February 2005, Babs imparted

All I know is never, EVER get bored and decide to read ‘Catholic New York’ when you are wanting to see a film. Because inevitably some bastard will write a letter to the editor with NO regard for anyone else and give away the whole thing right up to the end.

The bastard.
Comment ID: 2507
At 9:11 pm on Thursday 24th 2005f February 2005, Anthony felt the urge to write

Fuss has been made of the twist, but it really wasn’t so surprising once you figure out what kind of film it is. I avoided mention of it out of politeness, but I don’t think knowing it in advance will spoil the movie for you if it’s the kind of thing you enjoy.
Comment ID: 2535
At 4:16 pm on Sunday 27th 2005f February 2005, Gerrysan testified

Isn’t just grand that they didn’t bother giving an “oirish” accent to the padre and he still was as gobaloon as they are, I’ve met a few
Gerrysan
Comment ID: 4123
At 2:19 am on Monday 17th 2005f October 2005, JIMI posted

Clint reciting ‘Gaelic’ was kinda pathetic. I didn’t know the ending and it really did kinda surprise me – I kept expecting she was going to somehow pull through because that’s the Hollywood deal, right? My favourite thing about it was the final shot. Nice photography overall.

Also – you say this is Attrition, not Atonement. Are you implying Atonement is better than Attrition? I thought you hated Atonement. Personally I quite liked Atonement but I thought Attrition (the sequel) was crap – just cashing in on the franchise. Funnily enough, Atonement III, ‘The Novena’ was kinda good in a tacky, schlocky, cokeheady kind of way. Rumour has it that Finlan (who scripted and executive produced) was really hitting the nosebag hard on this gig and it shows. But it sort of works in a fucked-up kind of way. Director Bob Robinson (another legendary nosecandy fan) brings his trademark flair and panache. Like most of Robinson’s work it’s all style, no content but that meticulously tidy edit room really pays dividends.