The Best Film of 1953

Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby is the work of a director who understands the tools of filmmaking. Eastwood has never been a flamboyant director, but he knows how to get the job done and the older he gets the darker his films become. The film is a melodrama, but it plays at such a reserved emotional tone that it will require an audience to come to it. The film does not grab you by the heart, or even the throat, and while that kind of restraint is admirable it can also be a tad frustrating. The performances are all first-rate. Eastwood has never been better and in Morgan Freeman he has the best partner to play off of. They have a conversation about Freeman's socks that rates as one of the funniest moments of the year - it makes me wish Clint's next film would be a road comedy with the two of them. Hilary Swank is solid as the fighter with a dream - she is believable as both a boxer and as someone who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. I like the film a great deal, but it never hooked me emotionally. I was interested in the characters, but I never really cared about them. It is however the kind of film that Academy members can get behind, and while I am openly rooting for The Aviator to take the best picture Oscar (even though it isn't even in my top 5 for the year) seeing a film this small in scale take the top honor would be a positive step for Hollywood.