Watched “million dollar baby” today. I was just scrolling through the channels and found this movie on WB. It appeared nothing special but the awards it had got some years back got me glued to the proceedings.
As it strutted on, I could link to the emotional strength this film was carrying within. To tell you a gist of the story, it’s about a girl “Maggie” (Hillary Swank) who joins a Gym run by Frankie (Clint Eastwood). Frankie being a senior boxing trainer is not willing to train a “girl”. So he rejects Maggie’s request quite a few times. Though he is a brilliant trainer, he tends to over-protect his trainees and tries to delay their entry into major championships. This costs him a trainee who was the best prospect to win the championship, which later joins another manager and wins the cup.
Scrap (Morgan Freeman) is Frankie’s friend and works in his Gym also. He has been with Frankie for substantial years and knows his grief and ambitions. Frankie’s over-protectionism has already cost him of his daughter. She has broken all links with him and never writes back to his letters. All are returned to his address. There you see a chink in the armor of otherwise tough Frankie.
This loss has even made it difficult to accept Maggie as his student. But Scrap makes him realize the hard work that is being put in by her. Maggie has her own share of problems. She is working as a waitress since she can remember, stays in a small room and keeps on saving money to spend on boxing. She has lost her father and remaining family is only money-driven.
Being pursued, Frankie agrees to train her in the only interest she is having in her life now. You can see how life makes people zero-in on the only positives they are having. Such situations derive the best in you and make you focus unilaterally. Now begins a journey of moments which takes Maggie to the top of boxing arena and how it cultivates a serene relation between them. Frankie’s first and most basic lesson to her is to protect herself at all times in the boxing ring.
Frankie gifts a boxer overcoat to Maggie which has her new wrestler name “Mo Chuisle” (pron: ma kushla). He doesn’t tell her the meaning saying it’s in Gaelic (Scottish Lang.). Maggie shows the natural aggression to win all the matches in a few minutes only. Inadvertently she becomes famous and makes good money. She buys a house for her mother but she refuses to take that saying it would stop government help for being unemployed. Maggie gets hurt but moves on. Here you see a shade of mother-daughter relationship which is not commonly seen. You can’t buy love alright but being a poor can make you rate everything in coins.
This incident brings Maggie-Frankie even closer and though Frankie starts seeing his daughter in Maggie, he decides to take her to Million dollar championship match. Match against a tough opponent goes on as expected with Maggie being hammered. But using Frankie’s help, she nails down the opponent and starts celebrating. Just when all seemed to be going great guns, suddenly the faller boxer gets up and hits Maggie as hard as she can. Maggie stumbles and falls on the stool which Frankie fails to take out from the ring.
With her neck broken and on artificial air supply, Maggie finds herself in hospital. All the doctors tell Frankie that she cannot be cured. Unperturbed, Frankie tries all over USA to find the best doctor but fails, time and again.
Being stuck to the bed, she fights waning will power and bed ulcers. Frankie is constantly with her reading books and telling her stories. He had started with blaming Scrap to make this happen to Maggie but later feels its his mistake to train her and put her life in danger
Maggie wishes to see her mother but now her family doesn’t want to come. At once they come in but with an attorney who can transfer all Maggie’s assets to her family. Disgusted she asks them to go away. The same day doctor announces that bed ulcers have taken their toll on her legs and they may need to go for amputation. Maggie doesn’t like the way life’s treating her and urges Frankie to end her life.
Frankie denies it firmly but Scrap convinces him. He says, Maggie has had a best shot of her life, she has been top of the world all this while which she couldn’t have dreamt a year before. It would be best if she ends her life while feeling still on top of it. After a few months like this, she may end up wheel chairing but this would crush her.
In severe dilemma, Frankie goes to hospital and wakes Maggie up. He tells her the meaning of Mo Chuisle meaning My heart/My blood. He un-corks the air support and gives her Injection to sleep.
With Maggie finishing her tale, Frankie also deserts Scrap and his Gym and searches the life elsewhere. Maybe to find an end which gives justice to him.
