Worth A Million!

High On the Hog
Originally uploaded by livingfilm.

Okay, I'm Back. I've been meaning to give you kids another dose of my opinion, for almost a week now, and I'm just now getting around to it. I hardly know where to start. I guess I will start with a film I watched last night.

Million Dollar Baby I'm sure you have heard of it by now, and from the reaction of most of the people I've talked to, you are possibly skeptical. Well, if my endorsement means any thing to you, Take It! I found this film to be skillfully directed, beautifully acted, and very satisfying to watch. I love Clint Eastwood granted, and I also have a great love for boxing movies (actually so does Crystal, though I don't think either of us have watched Rocky), but I really don't think that either of these biases are necessary to be moved by this film. I don't want to give too much away, but I will just say that, I was really surprised at how little this film satisfied the conventional expectations you would have from it. Many times the story, would reach a familiar point, then suddenly the film would recede into an unexpected shadow. I know as soon as I say this, I will hear complaints from people that claim they saw right through the story, and knew exactly what was going to happen (Some people are just naturally Crabby). But, to that I can very easily point out the beautifully realized characters. Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman and Hillary Swank, each give wonderful performances. Enough actually, to carry a lesser film. I really felt these people had a history, and veins full of blood. Clint Eastwood's direction on this film, is truly something to be studied. It is economical and simple, never fancy yet very effective. I would compare the direction to the work Budd Boetticher, a director of Westerns, who was known for distilling a story to its essential elements, and creating very simple and entertaining films (not to mention short, most of his films were about 72 minutes long). Some critics claim that all of Eastwood's films are essentially Westerns, and I would say that is true for many, including Mystic River, yet for Million Dollar Baby, the only comparison to a Western I would find, would be its poetic simplicity.