Million Dollar Baby review by Brian McKayAfter all the Oscar hype and hundreds of glowing reviews, and more than a few personal recommendations, I finally got around to seeing the "Year's Best Film". But it's only past the halfway point that MILLION DOLLAR BABY truly becomes a great film, rather than a collection of sports movie cliches (albeit well-written and well-acted sports movie cliches).Although I enjoyed the film's first half, I couldn't help but think "It's Rocky . . . with a chick." (Insert dumb "Rockette" joke here . . . or better yet, don't). Hillary Swank is Maggie Fitzgerald, a dirt-poor white-trash waitress whose only love, and only shot at a better life, is boxing. Clint Eastwood is Frank Dunn, the gruff old trainer who doesn't work with "girlies", and yet begrudgingly takes on Maggie as his latest protege after more than a little nudging from Eddie Dupris (Morgan Freeman), a broken-down old boxer who runs Frank's gym for him and serves as best (perhaps only) friend and confidante. We see Maggie getting better under Frank's tutelage, via the obligatory montages (and I had to push that damn "Montage" song from TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE to the back of my mind at one point), and we see the relationship between them growing. Maggie finds a surrogate for her dead father in Frank, and he finds the same in her, as she takes the place of the daughter who no longer speaks to him for reasons unknown. Soon enough, Maggie becomes a really good boxer - like "knock everyone out in the first round" good, and she and Frank hit the women's boxing circuit with a vengeance. It all comes down to a really big match against a tough and feared opponent.And then the movie stops being about boxing, and becomes entirely something else. And what makes that transition so powerful is the fact that we've really come to care about Maggie and Frank, and have seen them become much more than reincarnations of Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) and Mickey (Burgess Meredith). No, MILLION DOLLAR BABY takes us in a gut- wrenching new direction that completely redeems it from being just another well-intentioned sports flick. And it's also at this point that you realize that MILLION DOLLAR BABY isn't really about Boxing at all. Maggie could have been a championship jockey or gymnast or pianist virtuoso, and the story could have still gone in the exact same direction (only without all the cool scenes of her beating people down to the mat).More than anything, it is a heartfelt examination of what makes somebody "family", as well as catalyst for looking back at one's life and facing the question "Did I give it my best shot?" The beauty of Frank and Maggie's relationship is how deep it runs without ever being overstated. The words "I love you" are never exchanged, but they never need to be. They are ultimately two people who are just content to be in each other's lives. Meanwhile, Eddie's intervention that brings them together, and his occasional voice-over narratives, serve as the glue that binds the whole thing together.My only complaints are that it relies so heavily on tried-but-true sport movie adages in the first half, and although Swank is definitely in shape for this film (her muscle tone during the jumprope scene is amazing), she still looks just a tad too frail to be knocking out women twice her size with a simple one-two combo (although the fight scenes are rather exciting). But the film's biggest contrivance is the broad depiction of Maggie's family as a bunch of heartless and money-grubbing white trash. Although I did end up hating every one of them and wanting to burn down their trailer park, the characters felt like little more than set pieces used to push emotional buttons. Perhaps a little more backstory to explain why her family is so disdainful of her would have provided enough context for more credibility - although I have to admit, I did enjoy the final scene between Maggie and her family, in that most basic "Hell yeah!" kind of way.These quibbles aside, MILLION DOLLAR BABY is a strong film. Best movie of the year? I don't know, but I will give Swank the nod for that gold statuette, and Clint continues his long streak of never letting me down . . . well, okay, except for PINK CADILLAC. Damn, that movie was bad.