Million Dollar Baby

Million Dollar Baby came out in 2004, when women's boxing was still fighting for recognition: it would not join the Olympic programme until London 2012. Clint Eastwood directs, produces, writes the score and plays Frankie. With screenwriter Paul Haggis he adapted stories from Rope Burns, written under the pen name F.X. Toole by a cutman who spent decades working corners.

A gym seen from the inside

The first thing that stands out is the setting: a dark gym, patched-up bags, a tired ring and fighters who come to work, not to pose. Eastwood lingers on what most boxing films skip: footwork, breathing, keeping your hands up, circling the bag, drilling the same combination hundreds of times. Anyone who trains will recognise the short, blunt instructions from the corner and the cutman's job between rounds.

Believable fights

Hilary Swank had only three months to prepare. She trained with Hector Roca, who had worked with Arturo Gatti and Iran Barkley, and sparred with Lucia Rijker. The Dutch fighter, a world champion in both boxing and kickboxing, plays Billie "The Blue Bear", an opponent known for fighting dirty. Her presence gives the ring scenes something actors alone cannot fake: movement, distance management, the way she takes the centre of the ring. The fights are cut without flashy tricks, and the camera often stays in the corner, on faces and instructions rather than spectacle.

Reception

The film won four Academy Awards in 2005: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress for Hilary Swank and Best Supporting Actor for Morgan Freeman. In France it also won the César for Best Foreign Film in 2006 and sold more than 3.1 million tickets. Critics praised the restrained direction and the three leads. Halfway through, the story turns in a direction the trailer does not hint at, so it is best seen without reading more about the plot.

For a boxer or a coach, Million Dollar Baby is mostly about the bond between trainer and fighter, trust in your corner and the physical cost of a career. It is a drama first and a sports film second, which is why it reached such a wide audience.