Million Dollar Baby

[samsong]

i have to agree with jeremy here. there are a lot of things i admired about mystic river, but that last monologue was absurd, or that's how it struck me anyway.

Definitely. First, it was a speech and a long one by that. Before, the movie did pretty well without having to vocalize its drama this way and so it felt awkward because it was. Furthermore, it was given by a character who had the least screen presence time of any of the main characters in the entire film and that felt desperate for the film to include every character in at least one pivotal scene. (On hindsight, I'm surprised Laurence Fishburne's character didn't do a similiar thing) Then, there was new information, a new perspective of how to view Penn's tradegy and mindset and that came across as pretensious in the way bad dramas do when they reveal more information about the character's history in the last 20 minutes then the entire story before.

This really was one of the big fault scenes, but another was when it was revealed who really killed Penn's daughter. That was just cliche murder mystery and didn't elevate the wonderful depth the story had brought to a simple crime film. Mystic River is a really good film, but far from perfect.

As I said before, after the scene with Penn walking down the street it should have went to the teaser trailer over the river to the bar where they "buried their sins" with Clint's voice over. This would have been a perfect/more powerful ending in my oppinion.

Now that we're back to talking about Mystic River in the Million Dollar Baby thread...

Truth be told I did find the ending of Mystic River awkward at first.  When Laura Linney starts her speech with the parade following it, it felt uncomfortable, which, to be honest yet again, is what I think Eastwood was going for.  Linney's speech is admittedly hokey but powerful if you suspend your belief which is what I think one does while watching a film, especially after having seen everything that precedes this oh-so-enigmatic end/denouement.  Didn't anyone find the Tim Robbins speech a little weird?  He talks about vampires.  Realistically I think it's more out of place than Linney encouraging her husband by way of a royalty metaphor, but just as powerful and memorable.

The entire film is filled with jarring moments like Linney's speech so to expect realism and a nice, clean ending that does what you want it to is asking for too much (or too little, depending on how you look at it), that is if you liked the film up until that point.  Eastwood has the audacity to end his film in a way no other filmmaker would and finish the story off his way on his time, completely confident and bold.  Mystic River is one of few films that put me through an incredibly uncomfortable, unpleasant, and disturbing experience and left me wanting more, dazed by what I'd seen.  Eastwood in my opinion makes films with a confidence that few filmmakers do; there is no aspect of Mystic River or any of the Eastwood films I've seen so far that are crowd pleasing spectacles or easily accesible.  

As of now I can't wait for Million Dollar Baby.  The trailer completely put me off and the title is one of the worst ever but all the positive attention and my love for Mystic River and Eastwood-as-director has given me an erection.

[ono]

How about you all take the Mystic River stuff to the Mystic River thread, because I'm a dumbass who still hasn't seen Mystic River yet?  Thankyouverymuch.

[Gold Trumpet]

How about you all take the Mystic River stuff to the Mystic River thread, because I'm a dumbass who still hasn't seen Mystic River yet?  Thankyouverymuch.

How about you take the first few sentences of each post for what they are worth and realize they may be talking about a certain film you may not have seen and so you probably shouldn't read. We don't have enough discussions as is to raise our own Gestapo to police them so once this place brims with wild and intellectually challenging words instead of comments agonizing to be as cute and as short as possible, then maybe we should do something. Until then, allow posters the freedom to converse outside the designated lines.

And don't worry, you're still the only Wes Anderson fan I actually like. I'm just filling out a persona role here.

As for the Laura Linney rebuttal offered above, I stand by my stance in saying that maybe it wasn't just the speech that was awkward, but her character doing it. We follow Tim Robbin's character quite well through out the movie for him to extend himself to such analogies in word play and considering Linney had a few remarks at best before hand, her coming up with a speech of such dramatic wording really felt out of left field. One could say the problem could have been solved by changing the tone and allowing for Penn to say the essentials of the speech in his own way, holding on to the empire he created but his voice showing the cracks of it after realizing what he had did. A little version of Hamlet redone, maybe. I think it would have been accepted better.

[Slick Shoes]

The more I think about it, the more I love it.

No fooling.

It's pretty goddamn good.

[modage]

i guess i'm the 4th (or 5th) person to see this here, huh?  SWEET.  yeah agree with the previous three.  really good stuff. SPOILER VAGUENESS! i loved that i had no idea the movie would take the turn it took.  if they can manage to keep a lid on that, it will retain its power.  if they had sold it in the trailer, the movie wouldnt have had nearly its impact. END SPOILER  so, yeah i think i've only seen 3 eastwood directed films, but i have to say that i really do like his quiet style.  its different and subtle but really great.

[SiliasRuby]

Saw this tonight. Badass Film, You can really tell this is a Eastwood Film too. He really has a beautiful style.

[Gold Trumpet]

Stanley Kauffmann's disregard: (Last film he did this to was Matrix: Reloaded)

Clint Eastwood has apparently reached a point in his career where he can do no wrong. He directed Mystic River, a creaky and pretensious murder story, and Dostoevsky was asked to move over and make room for it. Now Eastwood produces, directs, and stars in Million Dollar Baby, a boxing film that is widly hailed though it fairly fills the theater with the odor of the mothballs in which the script has been stored. A hopeful young fighter approaches a grizzled trainer; the trainer declines to take on the newcomer; but eventually he does, and eventually success arrives. The film even has the old black sidekick for the trainer, a man who knows a lot about the sport and serves as the trainer's conscience. The only difference between this new film and its many forebears are that the young hopeful is a woman and the finish is unforseen.

The casting matter here is just the reverse of The Aviator. [he reviewed the film prior in the same article] DiCaprio maims his film; but Eastwood saves his - for many, anyway. Whatever his talents may be, he has through the years added a person to the screen world; sage, slim, laconic, reliable. If we can watch this picture at all, it is because this universally admired person is in it. Hilary Swank, who seems to me to have too many teeth for a boxer, tries hard and sincerely. Morgan Freeman humbles himself to play the knowledgeable old sidekick.

I almost forgot one other point that distinguishes this film from past fight pictures. This trainer reads Yeats.

[modage]

so, he basically says 'although the premise is a familiar one, the movie is still good thanks to eastwoods direction'.... just the same as everyone else is saying.  but does he have to say it like such an asshole?

[©brad]

he is an asshole.

[cron]

i am an asshole

[Gold Trumpet]

so, he basically says 'although the premise is a familiar one, the movie is still good thanks to eastwoods direction'.... just the same as everyone else is saying.  but does he have to say it like such an asshole?

Look who's talking. And no, you completely missed the points.

[modage]

which were....

[Gold Trumpet]

His presence as a person on screen. Its like saying seeing Jeanne Moreau in a new film is worth it even if the film is terrible because looking at her face one can get a feel for the history of French cinema because of how iconic she is to that cinema. Eastwood is just as iconic for American cinema and has aged in a way that he has not lost his distinguishable features.

[Kal]

----- SPOILERS! -----

The film is excellent. You definetly see Clint Eastwood's hand in almost everything. The details, the sound, every scene... I loved it. I left the theatre a little down though, because you never expect what will happen, and it kinda sends you a mixed message that you can take it as positive or negative depending on how your current life situation is maybe. Either you get everything you dreamed of somehow and are able to die happy under any circumstance... or you may live your whole life with regret and empty because you never reached that peak. Its weird how everyone ends in the movie, not just the girl. Anyways... I was also curious to know what was that happened between Clint and his daughter (reason why she wouldnt talk to him), as they leave it open.

--- END SPOILERS ----

I think the prizes the movie got at the Globes were accurate. Hilary did great acting (as much as I wanted Kate Winslet to win). Clint did great directing (acting too... ), and the movie is very good enough to be nominated, but it has a couple of things that make a movie like The Aviator better overall, at least in my opinion.

[Mesh]

----- SPOILERS! -----

The film is excellent. You definetly see Clint Eastwood's hand in almost everything. The details, the sound, every scene... I loved it. I left the theatre a little down though, because you never expect what will happen, and it kinda sends you a mixed message that you can take it as positive or negative depending on how your current life situation is maybe. Either you get everything you dreamed of somehow and are able to die happy under any circumstance... or you may live your whole life with regret and empty because you never reached that peak. Its weird how everyone ends in the movie, not just the girl. Anyways... I was also curious to know what was that happened between Clint and his daughter (reason why she wouldnt talk to him), as they leave it open.

--- END SPOILERS ----

 You've gotta be kidding me with that.  That scene was so ridiculously telegraphed.....

M$B's not that good folks.  It's a good, depressing movie, with good performances and a stilted Morgan Freeman VO that lends it undue gravitas.  It's not a "masterpiece" in any significant sense, Clint Eastwood already made his masterpiece, it was called Unforgiven.

"Ah got everahthing ah need, Boss, don't let 'em take it away from me..."

Bahahahahahha.....

"In boxing, everything is backwards...."

No it's not, shut up and go back to Shawshank prison, you stereotype.