The Rewatch Party 242 - Million Dollar Baby (2004)

Clint Eastwood shows up, directs himself, scores his own movie, and lands every emotional punch.  Million Dollar Baby steps into the ring with gloves off, and we regret to inform you that this week we actually take a movie seriously. There’s a surprising amount of calm confidence in how this movie moves.  Catholic guilt doing laps around a boxing gym, Hilary Swank quietly turning in an undeniable all-timer, and all signs pointing to a conclusion that Clint Eastwood may have never been wrong about anything in his life except maybe not having Ring Dudes between rounds. So we joke, we curse, we opine about how great it must be to sound like Morgan Freeman.  They’re just fighting uphill against a story that insists on being sad in a way that’s earned, not manipulative.  What starts as a boxing drama slowly reveals itself as an existential gut punch that refuses to let us laugh our way out of it. Get your guard up and mouthpiece in, Eastwood's gonna wreck you. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0405159/