The Couch Potato Report – July 12th, 2005
This week The Couch Potato Report features an Academy Award winning masterpiece.
In this day of twenty-four hour media coverage, the internet, and all of the many other ways that are available for you and I to find out the things we know about movies, and the people who star in movies, it is very rare that a film can be released without many people knowing about it.
Whether it is a big summer film like BATMAN RETURNS or a smaller film such as THE UPSIDE OF ANGER, we usually hear about films prior to their release.
Usually.
That wasn’t the case late last year when a film called MILLION DOLLAR BABY was released.
There was very little information about it, and hardly any publicity, but then, there it was, coming soon to a theatre near you.
I must admit that when I first heard the title of the film, I thought it might have been a remake of the 1994 TV movie MILLION DOLLAR BABIES about the Dionne Quintuplets.
I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Clint Eastwood’s MILLION DOLLAR BABY has no quintuplets, or quadruplets, triplets, or even twins for that matter.
Instead this film is about an aging trainer and a woman from a small town who wants to be a boxer.
The narrator is a former boxer himself, who is also the trainer’s best friend.
Hilary Swank plays Maggie Fitzgerald. Her hope is that Eastwood’s Frankie Dunn will train her.
He declines. He doesn’t train girls.
Eventually the relentless Maggie wins him over and they work together. Morgan Freeman plays the narrator and with his help Maggie and Frankie eventually find themselves on their way to a championship fight.
Yes, this film has boxing in it, but if you don’t like boxing or sports movies, I implore you not to be scared off by that. MILLION DOLLAR BABY is not a boxing movie. It is a movie about a boxer.
It is also a masterpiece.
Hilary Swank won her second Academy Award for her work, and Eastwood was honoured with his second Oscar for Directing. Both are very deserving.
Morgan Freeman also won an Oscar, his first, for his efforts.
In a time of special effect filled, uninteresting movies, MILLION DOLLAR BABY stands out as it is exceptionally well written and full of real people.
Simply put, and I will say it again, it is a masterpiece.
I have seen MILLION DOLLAR BABY about half a dozen times now, and every time I see it something new reveals itself to me. The story has so many levels and the characters say so little, but upon repeated viewings they also say so much.
I could continue on about the film, but since this is a film that snuck up on all of us prior to its theatrical run, it should so the same upon its video and DVD release. The less you know about MILLION DOLLAR BABY before you see it, the more there will be to enjoy as you are watching it.
So stay away from the media coverage, the internet, and every other way that is available for you and I to find out the things we know about movies and just pick this film up and press play.
MILLION DOLLAR BABY is a movie about heart, faith, trust, love, forgiveness, and the ultimate test of friendship and love.
It is a one hundred and thirty two minute masterpiece!
Movies like this are why I fell in love with movies in the first place!
Clint Eastwood’s Academy Award winning masterpiece MILLION DOLLAR BABY is available now at a store near you.
COMING UP IN THE NEXT COUCH POTATO REPORT
In CONSTANTINE Keanu Reeves follows up THE MATRIX TRILOGY by playing a man who keeps a delicate balance between Heaven and Hell.
Keanu Reeves is a star that we have known about for a while now. A young star on the rise is Michelle Trachtenberg. She plays the lead in the film ICE PRINCESS about a smart, but unpopular young student who follows her figure skating dreams. The film also features performances from Kim Cattrall and Joan Cusack.
I’m Dan Reynish and I will have more on those films, and some other releases in seven days.
For now, that’s this week’s COUCH POTATO REPORT.
Enjoy the movies and I’ll see you back here next week on The Couch!
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