Million Dollar Baby

Million Dollar Baby is a2004 American dramatic film directed by Clint Eastwood , who also participated in the production, composed the soundtrack and played one of the main roles. In addition to Eastwood, they star in the movie Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman . The script, written by Paul Haggis , is based on the novel Rope Burns: Stories From the Corner by FX Toole. It tells the story of Frankie Dunn, a veteran boxing traineralready at the end of his career, and his efforts to help a boxer, named Maggie Fitzgerald , get to the top, even though training a woman is against his criteria.

The feature film was awarded with more than forty national and international awards. She received four Academy Awards , including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Leading Actress (Hilary Swank) and Best Supporting Actor (Morgan Freeman).

Argument

The film tells the story of Maggie Fitzgerald ( Hilary Swank ), a 31-year-old waitress who works in a store in Ozarks ( Missouri ) and whose dream is to be a professional boxer. Every day he goes to Los Angeles to train in the gym of Frankie Dunn ( Clint Eastwood ), a personal trainer whose desire is that his protégé, Willie (Mike Colter), is champion. Eddie “Scrap-Iron” Dupris ( Morgan Freeman ), an old blind eye boxer, and Frankie’s old friend, also works in the same gym .

At first, Maggie unsuccessfully tries to have Frankie train her, but Frankie continually rejects her, even when Dupris intercedes in her favor. When Willie leaves Frankie for another manager named Mickey Mack, two fights before the title, Frankie finally agrees to train Maggie until his first fight. However, Frankie gives Maggie another coach, as she is eager to fight and Frankie believes she was not ready yet.

During the fight, Frankie discovers that Maggie’s coach has made a deal with his opponent’s coach, so Frankie regains control of Maggie during the fight, which he was losing, and thanks to his help, manages to recover and win. Finally, Frankie agrees to train Maggie, while making clear, that this is temporary.

While Maggie trains, it is revealed that Frankie has a daughter whom she often writes without a response, because, for reasons unspecified, she has been angry with her father for several years. In addition, it is also revealed that Maggie’s father died several years ago, and soon a father-daughter relationship is formed between Frankie and Maggie.

As Maggie earns more fights, she saves money to buy a house for her mother, as she lives with another daughter and a grandson in a caravan park. However, after mocking Maggie’s profession, the mother recriminates the fact of having given her a house, because if the authorities knew, she would lose the social aid she receives. During the return trip, Maggie takes Frankie to a restaurant where they sell homemade lemon cake, and tells her about a sick dog they had, and that her father killed as his health deteriorated.

Increasing her fame, Maggie toured Europe, where a winning streak makes her even more popular. Maggie is recognized in Europe by the nickname of Mo Cuishle , a Gaelic phrase devised by Frankie, whose meaning Maggie does not know. Finally, Frankie allows Maggie to fight for the female welterweight title against defending champion Billie “The Blue Bear” (Lucia Rijker), known for fighting dirty.

The fight takes place in Las Vegas , and although initially Billie seems to win the fight, Maggie recovers thanks to the advice of Frankie. When it finishes an assault, Maggie turns to go to its corner, giving the back to the Bear , which takes advantage to hit in the back to Maggie, that falls on the bench of its corner, dividing the column at the height of the neck.

Maggie remains quadriplegic, immobile from neck down and in need of a respirator. Frankie spends all her time beside her bed in the hospital and has her moved to be closer to her home, where she stays by her side.

Maggie’s family announces that they are going to visit her, including her brother who had just been released from prison. However, they go to the hospital several days after arriving in the city, dressed in t-shirts from amusement parks they have visited before going to see Maggie, and with a lawyer. Her relatives try to persuade her to hold them responsible for her property, but Maggie finally discovers the true character of her family and rejects them. Since then, Frankie is left with only Maggie, to whom they amputated a leg when undergoing a gangrene in her .

Over time, Maggie asks Frankie to kill her, since she had already made her biggest wish, which was to be a famous boxer and to know the world. Frankie is horrified by such a proposition, but after several attempts at suicide by Maggie (biting her tongue), she finally agrees. He disconnects the respirator that gives him oxygen and injects an adrenaline overdose to Maggie, who dies. During the shot, Frankie reveals to Maggie the meaning of Mo Cuishle : “My love, my blood.”

The narrator of the film, who is none other than Dupris, says that later, Frankie disappeared. The narrative turns out to be a letter Dupris is writing to Frankie’s daughter, in an attempt to show him “the kind of man that was” his father. The last scene implies that Frankie is in the restaurant where he had eaten with Maggie lemon cake during one of his trips.

The final settlement of the story sparked criticism in the United States by groups of activists and the US Catholic community on the grounds that it justified euthanasia .

Cast

• Clint Eastwood as Frankie Dunn, a veteran boxing trainer. (Voice in Spanish: Constantino Romero , ³ Voice in Latin: José Lavat ⁴ )
• Hilary Swank as Maggie Fitzgerald , a woman who wants to fulfill her dream of being a professional boxer. She is the protagonist of the story. (Voice in Spanish: María Moscardó , Voice in Latin: Cristina Hernández )

• Morgan Freeman as Eddie “Scrap-Iron” Dupris, an old friend of Frankie and former boxer. He is blind in one eye. (Voice in Castilian: Pepe Mediavilla , Voice in Latin: Guillermo Coria )

• Anthony Mackie as Shawrelle Berry, a boxer who often trains in Frankie’s gym. (Voice in Spanish: Rafael Calvo ; Voice in Latin: Héctor Emmanuel Gómez )

• Jay Baruchel as Danger Barch, a mentally retarded boy who wants to get to the top. (Voice in Spanish: Pablo Sevilla , Voice in Latin: Luis Daniel Ramírez )

• Mike Colter as Willie Little, Frankie’s ex-boyfriend. (Voice in Spanish: Alfonso Vallés , Voice in Latin: Enrique Cervantes )

• Lucia Rijker as La Osa Azul , a German boxer who plays dirty. It is the main antagonist of the history

• Br. F. O’Byrne as Father Horvak, the priest of the church where Frankie goes. (Voice in Spanish: Abril Gonzalo ; Voice in Latin: José Gilberto Vilchis )

• Margo Martindale as Earline Fitzgerald, Maggie’s overweight selfish mother. (Voice in Spanish: Juana Beuter , Voice in Latin: Angels Bravo )

• Riki Lindhome as Mardell Fitzgerald, Maggie’s sister. (Voice in Spanish: Berta Cortés , Voice in Latin: Mariana Ortiz )

• Michael Peña as Omar, a boxer and Shawrelle’s best friend. (Voice in Spanish: José Javier Serrano , Voice in Latin: Alan Prieto )

• Benito Martinez as the manager of La Osa Azul . (Voice in Spanish: Carlos Vicente )

• Bruce McVittie as Mickey Mack, Willie’s coach and Frankie’s rival. (Voice in Spanish: Javier Amilibia )

Awards Óscar

Category	Person	Result
Best film	Million Dollar Baby	Winner
Best director	Clint Eastwood	Winner
Best Supporting Actor	Morgan Freeman	Winner
Best actress	Hilary Swank	Winner
best Actor	Clint Eastwood	Candidate
Best Adapted Screenplay	Paul Haggis	Candidate
Best mount	Joel Cox	Candidate

Awards Golden Globe

Category	Person	Result
Best Picture - Drama	Clint Eastwood Paul Haggis	Candidates
Best director	Clint Eastwood	Winner
Best actress - Drama	Hilary Swank	Winner
Best Supporting Actor	Morgan Freeman	Candidate
Best Soundtrack	Clint Eastwood	Candidate

References