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12/21/2004 Archived Entry: "'Million Dollar Baby' Gets Two Gloves Up!"
'Million Dollar Baby' Gets Two Gloves Up!
By Rita Figueroa
Rita Figueroa and her trainer, Sam Colonna
(Chicago, Illinois): Rita Figueroa, a fledging professional boxer with a record of 1-0-0, 1 KO, recently screened Clint Eastwood’s movie entitled, “Million Dollar Baby.” Starring Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman and Hillary Swank, this movie impressed her greatly. Here then is her review:
I will tell you right now: if you are going to see a boxing movie, you will be disappointed. Its focus is not about boxing, nor are the fight scenes that of championship caliber fighters. Instead, the boxing serves more as a backdrop to an intense character study; what you will see is a heart and soul movie that looks at the lives of three people.
There are no frills, no big studio special effects. The setting is dark. The narration by Morgan Freeman works perfectly, as it did in Shawshank Redemption. Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman play so well off each other onscreen, I only wish that they had collaborated many more times earlier in their careers. They both do great jobs, as does Hillary Swank in her role as Maggie, the female boxer. Swank accurately portrayed how hard a boxer has to work. Clearly, she did her homework in preparing for this role.
That said, as a female fighter, I had mixed reactions, at best, to Maggie’s experience with her coach.
On the down side, in the movie, Maggie’s coach—who is played by Eastwood and whom she refers to as "boss"—initially did not want to work with her, adding that he did not want to train a "girlie". In my case, my coach, Sam Colonna at Windy City Boxing Gym, was very helpful and worked with me from the first day I walked in the gym, and that was about five years ago.
On the plus side, both Eastwood’s fictional character and real life boxing coach Colonna are brutally honest. This rings true to life, as in this game, we can afford no less. Moreover, Maggie was loyal to her coach, as he was to her. In my personal experience, Sam Colonna has been there with me since my first amateur fight; he will be with me for my last pro fight.
Overall, I highly recommend this movie. If you want to see the best movie of 2004, go see " Million Dollar Baby."
