Million Dollar Baby

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Entertainment: +3

Content: -1

Golden Globe winner for his direction of this dark drama, Clint Eastwood plays boxing trainer Frankie Dunn. Along with Eddie Scrap-Iron Dupris (Morgan Freeman), one of the first boxers that Frankie trained, he runs a gym for up-and-coming boxers. Frankie reluctantly takes on the training of female boxer Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank). He believes that girls dont belong in the ring but sees that shes determined to be a boxer and willing to learn from him no questions asked. Frankie takes personal blame for many things: not being present in the lives of his wife and daughter, causing a career-ending injury to Eddie, losing a potential title-winning boxer to another manager because he was too cautious. Now with Maggie in the ring and in his corner, a sweet bond between the two helps them overcome some overwhelming difficulties. Win or lose, Maggie becomes Frankies million-dollar baby.

This film is not so much about boxing as it is about turmoil and how people resolve it. Frankie makes penance each day for guilt and regret over professional and personal mistakes. Maggie considers herself to be white trash and, at 31, feels she has made nothing of herself and is tenacious about going all the way in the boxing ring. The boxing scenes are aggressive, bloody and realistic. Two mean-spirited boxers seek only to harm others, rather than improve themselves. In a discussion with a priest (Brian OByrne), Frankie asks deep theological questions about God to the point of irritation, and the priest abruptly ends the conversation by calling Frankie an f-ing pagan. His implication is that a true believer would display unquestioning faith. A heroic portrayal of an assisted suicide and a fatalistic ending will be troubling for some. Million Dollar Baby is a poignant film but cannot be wholeheartedly recommended by Preview due to the treatment of euthanasia, the intense boxing violence and the barrage of bad language.

Preview Reviewer: Brian Hughes
Distributor: Warner Bros.

Summary
The following categories contain objective listings of film content which contribute to the subjective numeric Content ratings posted to the left and on the Home page.

Crude Language: Many (35) times mild (hell 14, damn 8); moderate (t-ts 5); strong (-ss 6, b-tch 1, SOB 1)

Obscene Language: Many (10) times moderate (cr-p 3, h-mping 1); strong (f-word 1, s-word 3, d-ck 1, BS 1)

Profanity: Many (12) times moderate (OMG 2, G 2); strong (GD 2, J 2, C 1, JC 2, mother of G 1)

Violence: Many times mild (verbal insults between boxers in the gym, a man is called a retard, scuffling in the gym between boxers, pushing and shoving before a boxing match); moderate (several boxing matches with punching and jabbing; a boxer attacks a lesser trained boxer); strong (a deep wound with swelling near the eye is treated; a womans nose is broken with massive amounts of blood coming out; man sets a womans nose, which makes a cracking sound; mans face is beaten excessively; woman hits neck on the rung of a stool, and you hear the crack of the neck breaking; woman bites tongue resulting in a life-threaten loss of blood)

Sex: Few times mild (man kisses a woman on the forehead and the cheek in a fatherly manner)

Nudity: Few times mild (women in athletic/spandex-type clothing; women in high heels, short shorts and tight bikini tops)

Sexual Dialogue/Gesture: Few times mild (comments made about a womans small breasts); moderate (hit the woman in the t-ts until they turn blue and fall off)

Drugs: Few times mild (use of a coagulant ointment to stop bleeding during a boxing match, use of medical drugs in the hospital)

Other: The racial slur n-gger is used twice; the Catholic faith is presented in a positive light overall; a man attends church every time there is a service, tells the priest that the message was good, and prays for his family and for a friend; a man asks deep theological questions of a priest, sometimes just to irritate him; the priest uses the f-word

Running Time: 100 minutes
Intended Audience: Older teens and Adults

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