Critic's Grade: A

Frank's film tip: The fist-of-fury teaming of Oscar-winners Eastwood and Swank takes an emotional punch in the durable knockout boxing saga MILLION DOLLAR BABY

With all due respect, Oscar-winning director Peter Jackson isn't the only "Lord of the Ring" lurking around in one's cinematic mindset. Based on the skillful and moving boxing saga Million Dollar Baby, it's safe to say that the punchy sentiments of Hollywood veteran Clint Eastwood could easily claim this title as well. Of course Eastwood's particular "ring" encompasses a squared circle where the constant jarring and jabbing go well beyond a penetrating gloved-fist to the cheekbone. In short, filmmaker Eastwood is the ultimate sparring partner when it comes to his latest prize-winning knockout Baby.

Million Dollar Baby is indeed a different kind of sporting melodrama in that it's cerebrally secure in its ode to portraying a unique perspective of the competitive spirit. Eastwood, marvelously recovering from last year's gritty and somber urban working-class drama Mystic River, bounces back with an intimately sturdy tale of alienation and emotional dependency. Granted that Million Dollar Baby's premise about a conflicted female boxer (Oscar-winner Hilary Swank from Boys Don't Cry) and her crusty trainer may be a turn-off to some folks as this may not be as riveting as it sounds on paper. But Eastwood's unassumingly intense direction coupled with richly introspective performances has Baby avoiding going down for the count. This is a masterfully meditative piece of entertainment that champions the cause for compelling storytelling on a personal level.

Maggie Fitzgerald (Swank) is a feisty gal looking for new challenges to conquer. She's hopelessly lost and desperately needs to break away from her riff raffish relatives. Stuck in a tedious job as an underpaid waitress, the 31-year old is ready to take on something that will test her psychological and physical limitations. Thus, Maggie embarks on a checkered journey that will take her into the brutal world of boxing. Fittingly, Maggie's bid to become a pugilist is an interesting metaphor for a frustrated young woman looking to aggressively swing at life's elusive obstacles. Whatever it takes, the aspiring female fighter has to get away from the overwhelming malaise currently dogging her ho hum existence.

In her quest to follow up her boxing ambitions, Maggie realizes that she needs guidance and experience to help her succeed. She turns to gruff-minded Frankie Dunn (Eastwood) as her self-appointed trainer/manager. Dunn isn't all that thrilled to take under his wing some wayward "girl" that all of the sudden wants to enter the arena of uppercuts. But gradually, he warms up to Maggie and marvels at her determination and spunky attitude as she insists on hounding Dunn daily with her appearances at the gym. Along to ensure that Dunn applies his "know-how" trick of the trade to his enthusiastic protege is former fighter Eddie "Scrap-Iron" Dupris (Morgan Freeman). Dupris works at Dunn's squalor-induced gym The Hit Pit and serves as his hard-nosed employer's conscience and positive reinforcement (incidentally, Freeman acts as the film's narrator).

As with his disillusioned charge Maggie, Dunn also has common chaotic issues dealing with familial strife that cloud his battered psyche. Estranged from his daughter, Dunn is dumbfounded as to how he can narrow the uneasy distance between him and his indifferent offspring. Conveniently, Dunn learns to bond with Maggie as the suitable replacement for his missing adult child. Plus, Dunn is the ideal father figure for Maggie since she continues to yearn for her own late father--the only true family member that she regarded with boundless love and respect. Together, Frankie Dunn and Maggie Fitzgerald forge a special personalized/professional friendship that mirrors the father-daughter connection that has been tremendously absent from both their disenchanted lives.

Million Dollar Baby is a big screen adaptation from the book "Rope Burns: Stories from the Corner". Eastwood's riveting insight into the moody masks that his protagonists wear with trepidation is nothing short of mesmerizing. Seriously flawed and looking for unclear resolutions that may never be realized in their small-sized seedy universe, Baby examines the empty soul of risk-takers in all their unrealistic glory. The meshing of well-intentioned wannabes and weary has-beens as they look to tolerate their seedy settings is profoundly stark. Eastwood is very imaginative in establishing a dubious place such as The Hit Pit where his tainted participants toil away in blind ambition as they try and reach an impossible goal that few rarely get to achieve. As Dunn and Dupris are the seasoned caretakers for a group of scrappy boxers with delusional but self-motivating dreams, Baby is a crafty narrative that displays its badge of cynicism and quiet despair.

Eastwood amazingly juggles his brilliant Baby project with the effortless flair of a carnival performer. As the rough-and-ready Frankie Dunn, you can feel the numbness and incomplete scope of Eastwood's characterization. He's contradictory, skeptical and scarred and we are kept guessing as to what made this matured man so vehemently guarded and damaged in the first place? Easily, this is one of Eastwood's finest on-screen performances in quite some time. Swank's Maggie Fitzgerald is another example as to how thorough and absolute this actress is when seeking out resilient roles that reflect such refreshing pathos and commitment. Physically and artistically, Swank adds muscle and sweaty precision to her alter ego as a trashy tart-turned-punching bag princess with the resourceful vulnerability factor to match. Clearly, Swank is one of the fiercest and experimental actresses working in cinema today. And the great understated Freeman (Eastwood's revered co-star from the Academy Award-winning Unforgiven) contributes his usual aura of dignified cadence to a supporting part that resonates with passion and prestige.

In all its sordid compromises and stunning execution, Million Dollar Baby is an inspiring film noir that convincingly floats like a butterfly and stinks like a bee. The Greatest himself--the immortal Muhammad Ali--would be as pleased as a nostalgic Joe Frazier beating after nine rounds of demonstrating the Rope-a-Dope technique.

Frank rates this film: *** and a half stars (out of 4 stars)

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