Million Dollar Baby
Million Dollar Baby is a 2004 film directed by Clint Eastwood and written by Paul Haggis. Morgan Freeman, Clint Eastwood, Hillary Swank, and Antony Mackie feature in the picture. Maggie, a 31-year-old waitress, chooses to follow her ambition of becoming a professional boxer in the film's plot. She asks Frankie Dunn, the owner of a boxing facility and a trainer, to be her coach. The seasoned teacher, however, denies the offer because he is dubious about female boxers. Nonetheless, Frankie later accepts to be Maggie's personal trainer, owing to her tenacity. They go on to win numerous fights and form a close father-daughter relationship. At the tail of the movie, Maggie suffers a spinal cord injury, and she is paralyzed for life. She requests Frankie to dislocate the life-supporting machine and let her die. After numerous pleas, Frankie reluctantly injects Maggie with adrenaline, and she dies minutes later.
Coach Frankie's Life
Coach Frankie’s life is in shambles, as he attempts to make peace with God and his daughter as well as gain wealth and reputation from his long-term career as a boxing coach. The trainer’s life is full of epiphanies of resolved issues from his past. At the end of the movie, Frankie, upon Maggie's numerous requests disconnects the patient’s breathing tube and she dies a few minutes later. As Fr. Horvak had warned, probably, “Frankie had lost himself in a place so dark, he’d never find himself again” (Eastwood n.p).
Maggie's Transformation
For all her life, Maggie is obsessed with the determination and bravery of becoming a successful person. She despises her trashy background, her career as a waitress, and her poverty-ridden family. Maggie undergoes a substantial transformation when Frankie agrees to train her for boxing. Another change occurs when the Maggie and Frankie develop a loving father-daughter relationship. However, her perspective on the meaning of life is adversely affected when a rogue boxer renders her paralyzed at the top of the career.
Danger Barch
Danger Barch is an important character in the movie since his funny yet passionate personality eases the tension in the gym and the film in general. Notably, Scrappy describes him as “all heart.” Despite being skinny and slow, his primary goal is to defeat Tommy Hearns, one of the world’s best boxers. The character also helps distinguish Maggie’s determination and talent from her colleagues’. Although both Danger and Maggie are from poor backgrounds, Scrappy says that Danger is full of compassion while Maggie is full of talent.
Work Cited
Eastwood, Clint, director. Million Dollar Baby. Warner Bros, 2004.
