Day 223 - 8/11/09 - Movie #219
BEFORE: Any time I can clear an Oscar-winner off my list, that's cause for celebration. Boxing Week continues with this contender, unfortunately I sort of know the ending already, but I can't fix that...
THE PLOT: A hardened trainer/manager works with a determined woman in her attempt to establish herself as a boxer.
AFTER: Now we're getting into more of the "sweet science" - how boxers train, how they "read" each other, how they get better by prolonging a fight and not going for the quick knockout... Of course, there's more going on here than just boxing. Hilary Swank's Maggie needs training and a father figure, and Clint Eastwood's Frankie needs a purpose, and has an estranged daughter - so they fit right together (but not at first). Morgan Freeman co-stars and narrates - shouldn't all movies be narrated by Morgan Freeman?
Eastwood looks older here than Yoda and Mr. Miyagi combined... Frankie's faith in God is put to the test late in the film, and the tearjerker ending is probably what earned it the Oscar - but this is still a film that leads with its chin, then delivers a powerful uppercut.
A great movie is sort of like a horoscope - you can sometimes see wisdom in it that you can apply to your own life. I've been part of this crazy "business we call show" for 15-odd years, and in some ways I've become as cynical and jaded as this old boxing trainer who's seen it all. How many young co-workers have come my way, full of hope and spunk (I hate spunk...) and have been forced to listen to me tell them how pointless it all is, as I do my best to discourage them from succeeding - but that's exactly what some of them have done. One co-worker went to work for Robert Redford, one directed episodes of "Daria", and another co-wrote the screenplays for "X-Men 2" and "Superman Returns". So maybe instead of being a Grump most of the time, I should be training the next world-class accountant or print traffic person...
I've got more Eastwood movies to watch, but I'm going to stick with the boxing theme for now, and do a Clint-a-thon in a couple weeks.
RATING: 8 out of 10 knockouts
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