Spurminator
02-06-2005, 01:28 AM
If you haven't seen this movie, you probably don't want to read any further.
I went with my wife to see it tonight because of all the buzz it has gotten during the Oscar season. My interest was also piqued by the Sports Illustrated article on F.X. Toole, the author of the short story upon which the movie was based.
From the beginning, I fell in love with the characters. I thought the banter between the three lead characters was wonderful, and the performances were (for lack of a better word) enchanting. It was a fun, heart warming movie that I would watch over and over again.
Until they fucked it up an hour and a half into the story.
Let me just say that I do not dislike unhappy endings in films or books. Typically, I prefer them over sappy happy endings. However, in this case, I was very disappointed (angry even) that they had taken a movie that I was so thoroughly enjoying and completely flipped it over on me. While happy endings are often seen as an "easy out" when reviewing a film, I find that sometimes a sad ending is just as easy. (Case in point: "Pay it Forward")
Now, while Million Dollar Baby was infinitely better than Pay it Forward and other movies of that kind, the emotional manipulation in the last thirty minutes of the movie is comparable. For the first 90 minutes, MDB was a story of multi-dimensional characters... Then, at the pivotal point of the movie, that story is derailed by the sucker punch of a one-dimensional corn-rowed "bad guy." I couldn't help but be reminded of Rocky 4... with a touch of a typical horror movie scene where a victim happens to land in a most inopportune place.
I will say that I do feel MDB is deserving of Oscar buzz... It is still a very good movie with great performances. I guess the reason I'm ranting is that it was on track to be one of my personal favorite movies... one that I could enjoy over and over again. However, while I thought it was a very well-made movie, it's probably not one that I would want to watch again.
Maybe that was the purpose of the movie... to illicit this kind of emotional response. I felt the same joy, disappointment, and anger towards the film as the characters felt toward Maggie's tragic boxing career. A job well done by Clint Eastwood and F.X. Toole. But disappointing nonetheless.
I went with my wife to see it tonight because of all the buzz it has gotten during the Oscar season. My interest was also piqued by the Sports Illustrated article on F.X. Toole, the author of the short story upon which the movie was based.
From the beginning, I fell in love with the characters. I thought the banter between the three lead characters was wonderful, and the performances were (for lack of a better word) enchanting. It was a fun, heart warming movie that I would watch over and over again.
Until they fucked it up an hour and a half into the story.
Let me just say that I do not dislike unhappy endings in films or books. Typically, I prefer them over sappy happy endings. However, in this case, I was very disappointed (angry even) that they had taken a movie that I was so thoroughly enjoying and completely flipped it over on me. While happy endings are often seen as an "easy out" when reviewing a film, I find that sometimes a sad ending is just as easy. (Case in point: "Pay it Forward")
Now, while Million Dollar Baby was infinitely better than Pay it Forward and other movies of that kind, the emotional manipulation in the last thirty minutes of the movie is comparable. For the first 90 minutes, MDB was a story of multi-dimensional characters... Then, at the pivotal point of the movie, that story is derailed by the sucker punch of a one-dimensional corn-rowed "bad guy." I couldn't help but be reminded of Rocky 4... with a touch of a typical horror movie scene where a victim happens to land in a most inopportune place.
I will say that I do feel MDB is deserving of Oscar buzz... It is still a very good movie with great performances. I guess the reason I'm ranting is that it was on track to be one of my personal favorite movies... one that I could enjoy over and over again. However, while I thought it was a very well-made movie, it's probably not one that I would want to watch again.
Maybe that was the purpose of the movie... to illicit this kind of emotional response. I felt the same joy, disappointment, and anger towards the film as the characters felt toward Maggie's tragic boxing career. A job well done by Clint Eastwood and F.X. Toole. But disappointing nonetheless.