Million Dollar Baby [10th Anniversary] [Blu-ray]

Overview

Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood) is a veteran boxing trainer who has devoted his life to the ring and has precious little to show for it; his daughter never answers his letters, and a fighter he's groomed into contender status has paid him back by signing with another manager, leaving Frankie high and dry. His best friend and faithful employee Eddie Dupris is a former fighter who Frankie trained. In his last fight, Eddie suffered a severe injury, a fact that brings Frankie great guilt. One day, Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank) enters Frankie's life, as well as his gym, and announces she needs a trainer. Frankie regards her as a dubious prospect, and isn't afraid to tell her why: he doesn't think much of women boxing, she's too old at 31, she lacks experience, and has no technique. However, Maggie sees boxing as the one part of her life that gives her meaning and won't give up easily. Finally won over by her determination, Frankie takes on Maggie, and as she slowly grows into a viable fighter, an emotional bond develops between them. When a tragedy befalls one of the three characters, each comes to a decision that shows how the relationships in the film have changed them. Adapted from a short story by F.X. Toole, a former corner man with years of experience in the fight game, Million Dollar Baby also stars Morgan Freeman, Anthony Mackie, and Mike Colter.

Product Details

Release Date:	02/04/2014
UPC:	0883929387502
Original Release:	2004
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	Warner Home Video
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	2:12:00
Sales rank:	24,031

Special Features

Two all-new special features take you inside the ring with the filmmakers and cast:; Million Dollar Baby: On the Ropes - like Hilary Swank's relentless boxer, Million Dolar Baby had to fight for its life.; Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman and Swank reveal how this uncompromising story overcame incredible odds to become a milestone in cinema history; Commentary by producer Albert Ruddy; Plus James Lipton Takes on Three; Born to Fight; Producers Round 15; And more!

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Clint Eastwood	Frankie Dunn,Actor,Composer
Hilary Swank	Maggie Fitzgerald
Morgan Freeman	Eddie `Scrap-Iron' Dupris
Jay Baruchel	Danger Barch
Mike Colter	Big Willie Little
Lucia Rijker	Billie `The Blue Bear'
Anthony Mackie	Shawrelle Berry
Margo Martindale	Earline Fitzgerald
Riki Lindhome	Mardell Fitzgerald
Bruce Forman	Guitarist
Benito Martinez	Manager Billie
Bruce MacVittie	Mickey Mack
David Powledge	Actor
Dave A. Powledge	Counterman at Diner
Joe D'Angerio	Actor
Marcus Chait	J.D. Fitzgerald,J.D. Fitzgerald
Tom McCleister	Prawnik
Erica Grant	Piel¿gniarka
Naveen	Actor
Michael Peña	Omar
Brían F. O'Byrne	Father Horvak
Jamison Yang	Actor
Dean Familton	Ref #1
Louis Moret	Ref #2
Dr. Louis Moret	Ref #2
V.J. Foster	Ref #3,Ref #3
Jon Schorle	Ref #4
Jon D. Scholore II	Ref #4
Marty Sammon	Ref #5
Steven M. Porter	Ref #6
Ray Corona	Ref #7
Ming Lo	Rehab Doctor
Miguel Pérez	Restaurant Owner
Ned Eisenberg	Sally Mendoza
Jim Cantafio	Ring Doctor #1
Marco Rodríguez	Second at Vegas Fight
Ted Grossman	Ring Doctor #2
Lo Ming	Rehab Doctor
Roy Nugent	Fan in Vegas
Don Familton	Ring Announcer
Mark Thomason	Radio Commentator
Brian Finney	Irish Fan #1
Spice Williams	Irish Fan #2
Rob Maron	Irish Fan #4
Susan Krebs	Rehab Nurse
Sunshine Chantal Parkman	Rehab Nurse #2
Kim Dannenberg	Rehab Nurse #3
Eddie Bates	Rehab Resident
Kim Strauss	Irish Fan #3
Kirsten Berman	Irish Fan #5

Technical Credits

Paul Haggis

FX Toole

Clint Eastwood	Director
Paul Haggis	Screenwriter,Producer
Albert S. Ruddy	Producer,Producer
Tom Rosenberg	Producer
Robert Lorenz	Executive Producer,Producer
Gary Lucchesi	Executive Producer,Producer
H. Barclay Aaris	Special Effects
Minerva Adams	Stunts
James Ashwill	Sound Effects
FX Toole	Screenwriter,Screenwriter
Liz Radley	Special Effects
Bub Asman	Sound Effects
Christopher Boyes	Sound Effects
William Cawley	Sound Effects
Lucy Coldsnow-Smith	Sound Effects
Bobby Moresco	Producer
Ante Dugandzic	Special Effects
Hilary Swank	Director
Morgan Freeman	Director
Jay Baruchel	Director
Mike Colter	Director
Lucia Rijker	Director

Editorial Reviews

The Academy Award winner for Best Picture of 2004 represents yet another triumph for Clint Eastwood, the former western star who has become one of Hollywood’s most talented and celebrated filmmakers. We can’t really do justice to Million Dollar Baby with a brief synopsis because, frankly, on paper it doesn’t seem particularly unique or innovative. Eastwood plays the grizzled owner of a rundown gym and the trainer of an up-and-coming boxer who has just abandoned him in favor of more aggressive management. Along comes Hilary Swank, a trailer-trash waitress determined to become a fighter. She hasn’t got a thing going for her except a burning desire, but that’s enough to make Clint believe the girl might be worth handling. You might think this has the making of a fairly routine rags-to-riches story, and to an extent you’d be right. But Eastwood the director -- prompted, of course, by Paul Haggis' superb script adapted from F. X. Toole’s short-story collection Rope Burns -- throws his viewers a surprise roundhouse punch in the movie’s second half, turning a seemingly predictable ring yarn into an intensely gripping drama. The carefully limned relationship between this gravel-voiced old trainer and his hardworking protégée carries the story over some pretty rugged, melodramatic terrain, but it remains firmly rooted in the expertly crafted characterizations of Eastwood, Swank, and Morgan Freeman (quietly effective as a washed-up fighter who toils in the gym). The dialogue is terse, and hardly a line is spoken that isn’t necessary. Eastwood’s lean and unpretentious direction advances the story without calling attention to its improbabilities; he richly deserves the additional Oscar he won for wielding the megaphone. The same can be said of Swank, whose own modest upbringing informed her portrayal of the ambitious young wannabe who chooses a sweaty old gymnasium to home and hearth because she wants nothing as much as success in the ring. Very much deserving of all the honors heaped upon it, Million Dollar Baby is one of those rare movies that will crawl inside your head and burrow its way into your memory.

Barnes & Noble - Ed Hulse

The best decision made by director Clint Eastwood in Million Dollar Baby is to allow Clint Eastwood the performer to drop his screen persona and actually act. As the weathered boxing trainer Frankie Dunn, Eastwood does not seem larger than life, he seems beaten down by it. His banter with Morgan Freeman, as a boxer he used to train, occasionally plays like a brilliantly written Seinfeld episode featuring senior citizens. But often those conversations suddenly hint at great pain and regret, adding an unexpected gravity. Hilary Swank provides the necessary drive and spunk to make the audience believe she would eventually win the emotionally closed-off Frankie over. The first half of the film, an excellently observed boxing drama, allows the audience to meet the characters and understand where they are in their lives. However, a big event happens (one that would be inappropriate to reveal in this review) and the second half of the film becomes an old-fashioned melodrama. Eastwood's directorial style can be described as low-key, even when the emotions in the film are practically operatic. This decision will either draw audiences in to the characters' struggles, or it will distance viewers who feel the film is not allowing them to feel the emotions as fully as possible. At worst, people will be interested in rather than involved with the characters, but those who respond to Eastwood's style will probably be emotionally devastated. What one is left with is a memory of Eastwood's face, that leathery mask of taciturn male pride, cracking with the recognition of where his own life choices have left him. He has directed better films, but he has never given a better performance.

All Movie Guide - Perry Seibert