"Dear Lord, do your best to protect Katy. Annie, too. Other than that, you know what I want, Lord, not gonna repeat myself"—Frankie.
REF. Somebody tell me what's going on?
FRANKIE. I was late, Sally was just workin' till I get here.
REF. You're telling me this is your fighter?
FRANKIE. Yeah, this is my fighter.
MAGGIE. I got nobody but you, Frankie.
FRANKIE. You got me. Till we find you a manager.
Maggie Fitzgerald (Hillary Swank) and Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood).
Danger Barch (Jay Baruchel) and Eddie "Scrap-Iron" Dupris (Morgan Freeman).
F.X. Toole (Jerry Boyd), author of the story "Million Dollar Baby."
1. So...what do you think of Million Dollar Baby? What scene or moment has stayed with you since our viewing Wednesday/Thursday and Friday? And why?
2. The genre is boxing, of course. Think Rocky (all fourteen parts); think Creed (and Creed Two is due out soon). It's a venerable Hollywood genre. Look below at the training montage from John Avildsen's Rocky (1976).
So whether you are familiar with the genre or not, what do you think will happen in the last quarter of "Million Dollar Baby"? How do you see it ending?
Pick one of the two questions below:
3. There's that little moment when Maggie jokes about the Englishman proposing to her.
MAGGIE. Man says he loves me.
FRANKIE. I'm sure he's not the first.
MAGGIE. First since my daddy. I win, you think he'll propose?
FRANKIE. You win, I'll propose.
It was a joke, something said off the cuff, but suddenly Frankie feels embarrassed. Maggie senses it, is charmed.
In 5th period there was laughter—a little uncomfortable—at this moment. It's an awkward monent for sure. So: what is awkward about it? And in answering that, talk about Maggie and Frankie's relationship. What is the relationship? Do you find it believable?
3. What, right now, is this movie about to you? Do not say it is a sports movie or a boxing movie. Yes it is—just the way Paths of Glory is a war movie, but at the same time, as Yani said, it is not. What, to you, is its major theme or concern or conflict? And where do you especially see it?
300 words. Due by 8PM Sunday. See you all next Tuesday. Enjoy your little break!
1. So far, I am really enjoying this film. I think it has a lot of meaning behind the scenes and plot, which draws my attention in deeper than a simple movie about boxing would. In my opinion, the acting is also very good and you can feel every emotion that the actors are trying to portray. I'm not sure if this is just from the plain talent of the actors, or the way the movie was directed, but it beautifully portrays a lot of raw emotion. As well as the acting, I think the way each scene is filmed is very interesting. All scenes have the same sort of lighting, not too colorful or bright and people's faces are rarely fully lit. I think this adds to the realness of the movie because it seems less like a fiction fairy tale world. One moment that has stayed with me was when Maggie bought the house for her mother, but her mom was incredibly ungrateful and quite rude about the whole ordeal. This showed what a truly hard background Maggie came from, and added some depth to her character by showing exactly what hardships she's had to deal with to put her in the place she is now.
ReplyDelete2. I see this movie ending happily, it may have a bittersweet, but I think things will work out for the better for each character. I see Maggie going extremely far in her boxing career and bringing home a big title. I think Frankie will somehow run into his daughter or choose to talk to her again. I think after building his relationship with Maggie throughout the whole movie, he will understand how to interact and restart with his daughter. We have not figured out what exactly happened between them, but I see them putting it behind them to start over. I could also seeing it go the other way, though, where Frankie tries to reach out and gets completely shut down similarly to how Maggie did when she tried to help her mother out.
3. To me, this movie is about perseverance, as well as the importance of taking a chance despite your past. The movie expresses that no one can get far at all in life without pushing their limits. It shows this through Maggie, because the world was set up against her, yet she hasn't given up. I think this also ties into the main idea of taking a chance. This theme has played into a lot of the film, even in the beginning. Frankie wouldn't take a chance with Willy for a championship because he was trying to protect him from possibly a similar fate of Eddie, and so Frankie lost his best fighter. Eddie also talks many times to Frankie about taking a chance and stepping out of his comfort zone, especially with Maggie’s fighting.
1. I have thoroughly enjoyed the parts of Million Dollar Baby that we have seen so far. I think that, while it does play into some of the standard tropes of many other boxing movies, it still provides an entertaining story with characters that I enjoy to learn about. If I were to single out one moment that really stood out to me, it would the scene where Maggie fought the British boxing champion and earned her Gaelic nickname, Macushla. This particular scene stayed with me for one main reason: the first was the fact that Maggie was finally making a literal name for herself in the boxing industry. I felt compelled to cheer her on as she pursued an ambition that she has desired since we first met her character.
ReplyDelete2. If I were to frame my opinion around the clichéd characteristics of other boxing movies, then I would assume that the protagonist (Maggie) would encounter a seemingly unbeatable foe that forces her to exceed all of her limits. Next, I theorize that Frankie will realize how much he actually cares for Maggie. However, I think that the ending will take an unexpected twist in which Maggie will be pulled from the fight. Earlier, we learned about how Scrap lost his eye in a fight and that Frankie has not mentioned it since. Because of those bottled up emotions, I think that Frankie will stop Maggie from fighting before he can see harm come to someone else that he cares about.
3. The reason that this moment felt awkward was because I see Frankie as more of a father figure to Maggie. We learn about both characters’ individual family relationships and how they have been strained over the years. For Maggie, her father is not around to support her. And as for Frankie, he has a daughter named Katy that will not even speak to him. Because of these two backstories, it just makes sense to me that Maggie would find a father figure in Frankie. For that reason, I find their relationship believable. I can accept the fact that both characters are filling in the respective voids left by their respective family members.
1. I have thoroughly enjoyed the parts of Million Dollar Baby that we have seen so far. I think that, while it does play into some of the standard tropes of many other boxing movies, it still provides an entertaining story with characters that I enjoy to learn about. If I were to single out one moment that really stood out to me, it would the scene where Maggie fought the British boxing champion and earned her Gaelic nickname, Macushla. This particular scene stayed with me for one main reason: the first was the fact that Maggie was finally making a literal name for herself in the boxing industry. I felt compelled to cheer her on as she pursued an ambition that she has desired since we first met her character.
ReplyDelete2. If I were to frame my opinion around the clichéd characteristics of other boxing movies, then I would assume that the protagonist (Maggie) would encounter a seemingly unbeatable foe that forces her to exceed all of her limits. Next, I theorize that Frankie will realize how much he actually cares for Maggie. However, I think that the ending will take an unexpected twist in which Maggie will be pulled from the fight. Earlier, we learned about how Scrap lost his eye in a fight and that Frankie has not mentioned it since. Because of those bottled up emotions, I think that Frankie will stop Maggie from fighting before he can see harm come to someone else that he cares about.
3. The reason that this moment felt awkward was because I see Frankie as more of a father figure to Maggie. We learn about both characters’ individual family relationships and how they have been strained over the years. For Maggie, her father is not around to support her. And as for Frankie, he has a daughter named Katy that will not even speak to him. Because of these two backstories, it just makes sense to me that Maggie would find a father figure in Frankie. For that reason, I find their relationship believable. I can accept the fact that both characters are filling in the respective voids left by their respective family members.
1. Million Dollar Baby is a great movie that has amazing performances by the likes of Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank, and Morgan Freeman. It fits the template of every boxing story, the underdog story. However, there is something special about this movie that differentiates itself from other boxing movies. It has a very feminist theme to the story. At the gym, Maggie faced discrimination from the other male boxers because she is a woman, but that doesn’t stop her. She trains everyday because boxing is the only thing that is meaningful in her life. One scene that really depicts the sexism in her life when she buys her mom a house. Maggie’s mom tells her “to find a man and live proper.” Being a housewife is considered honorable, not playing sports like boxing. Maggie realizes she has to overcome her obstacles not physically but mentally.
ReplyDelete2. I honestly do not know where this movie is going. I believe Frankie is going to take her to the championship but I do not know it is going to go from there. It might be a bittersweet ending such as Rocky, where he doesn’t win but he lasts all 9 rounds with Apollo. She could win but that would be too predictable. If she won, this movie would just be another underdog story. The ending has to be different or it wouldn’t have been nominated for so many academy awards. My best guess is that she will end up losing because it would break the mold of the underdog story.
2. I think it was awkward because of the age gap between Maggie and Frankie. We see Frankie more as a father figure, and making that joke was uncomfortable. Earlier she was talking about her daddy saying she loved her. Frankie is the good father that Maggie never had so it is more of an funny awkward moment because we know Frankie didn’t say with mal intentions.
1. I really liked the first part of this movie. I know this was brought up in class but I think it’s so interesting how they use shadows and light in the movie. One part that really stuck with me was on their way back from a really big boxing match, they were about to stop for pie, and Maggie said that Frankie was the only person she had. Frankie responded by saying only until he found her a good manager. Frankie was distancing himself from Maggie, even though they were doing so well together and she really loved working with him, he didn’t want to be training her. The watcher can tell Frankie cares about Maggie, but he isn’t willing to admit it, and after all this time he still wants to get her a different manager.
ReplyDelete2. I don’t think I’ve every really watched a boxing movie, so I’m not sure I can accurately predict what’s going to happen at the end of the movie, but so far it seems like she’s a very good boxer and she’s obviously a very tough girl after the nose scene. It’s hard for me to imagine her getting severely injured because Frankie is very careful with who he is letting Maggie fight. I think at the end maybe Maggie will go to a manager that doesn’t care about her like Frankie does, and she will lose a fight.
3a. For both Maggie and Frankie they don’t have much family, and they are very close so I think they are suppose to have a father daughter relationship. Frankie writes letters to his daughter that are always returned to sender and Maggie’s mother has no faith in her and doesn’t really seem to love Maggie. The reason this scene was so awkward was because they are family to each other. Maggie looks up to Frankie like a father and Frankie is always around Maggie and she seems to take the role of the daughter that he doesn’t speak to
1. I love Million Dollar Baby. I didn’t quite know what to expect going into the film but so far I have been completely taken by wonderful surprise. Not only is the film a sports movie but it’s a movie about real people. As with Rocky, and in fact a little more so, this film focuses on a character who has nothing to lose riding through life and persevering, using nothing but drive, determination and an excellent mentor. The scene that’s stuck with me the most was when Maggie used her money to purchase a house for her mother, but the gesture wasn’t met with the reaction she had anticipated. For me, this moment highlighted the realism in this film. Sometimes, doing what we believe is right is followed by several unintended consequences.
ReplyDelete2. Because this is still, at its core, a sports movie, I like to think that it will end with Maggie triumphing over some super high-class opponent, winning millions and living happily ever after. Unfortunately, this movie gives off vibes of a more bleak outcome. Just like in Rocky, I don’t think Maggie is going to be victorious in her last fight of the film. Unlike in Rocky, I don’t think she’ll end in a very happy place, either. I’m not quite sure what it is, but I sense that some tragedy is waiting around the corner.
Maggie and Frankie’s relationship is definitely one of a daughter and her father, especially since Maggie has lost her father and Frankie no longer has contact with his daughter. I almost want to say that Frankie’s reluctance to train girls in the past is related to his daughter.The moment in question, though, is awkward for a couple of reasons. The first is that the idea of a father proposing to his daughter is peculiar and incredibly uncomfortable. Even though the characters aren’t related, the dynamic has been established as such and the age difference supports it. The other reason is simply that Frankie is displaying a level of pride that he hasn’t yet displayed. Here is the first time he really opens up and admits that he really values Maggie as a fighter and as a companion.
I have very much enjoyed Million Dollar Baby so far. One of my favorite aspects of the movie is the performances by the actors, especially Clint Eastwood, Hillary Swank, Jay Baruchel, and Morgan Freeman. One of my favorite scenes so far is the one where Frankie gets his mail and finds a returned letter from his daughter. He then puts the letter in a box with countless other letters that his daughter sent back. This scene adds new depth to Clint Eastwood's character. For one, it shows the audience that Frankie is not the cynical old man who lies to a priest about sending letters to his daughter. Frankie actually still cares about his child, and he continues to reach out to her, even though his attempts continuously to fail. This scene also sheds some light on why Frankie is originally reluctant to coach Maggie. The reason being the troubled relationship between him and his own daughter.
ReplyDeleteFor the last quarter of Million Dollar Baby I expect Maggie to come across a fighter who will beat her in a fight. However, I can't decide whether I think she'll eventually win the title/come back from her defeat. I expect the story to address the issue between Frankie and his daughter. Maybe Maggie will have a part to play in a reunion between the two. Quite possibly some incident could befall Frankie. For example, he could have a heart attack, be is in a car crash, or have a falling out with Maggie. Then either right before the final fight the issue will be resolved, or someone else will have to take Frankie's position.
I think that when Frankie says the line “you win, I'll propose” he means it in a joking manner. I think Frankie is beginning to see Maggie as a friend and a daughter-like figure, someone he can joke around. However, in the moment when he makes the joke I think that he doubts these feelings and is afraid that Maggie, similar to Frankie's biological daughter, will reject him and quite possibly take his words the wrong way.
I really like Million Dollar Baby so far. I have always liked the Rocky and Creed boxing films but I think that having a woman as the fighter and main character changes the film a little and makes it more interesting. I find the relationship between Maggie and Frankie pretty funny because it is obvious that Frankie was hesitant about training Maggie at first because of his reputation, but it is clear to see that he has warmed up to her and still doesn't want to show it. One moment that has stuck with me since watching the movie so far is the scene where she fights boxer after boxer and knocks all of them out with about 2-3 punches. The visual effects and sounds were very extreme during this scene and I felt sorry for the women getting punched by Maggie because of how hard she hit them.
ReplyDeleteI think the last quarter of this movie will be about Maggie training for a huge upcoming fight that will determine the rest of her career. I also predict that there will be some conflict between Maggie and Frankie either leading up to the fight and or during the fight that will separate them. I also think that she will get knocked down during the fight and will almost be counted out, but will have flashbacks of training, her family, and Frankie that will help her get back up and knock out her opponent.
I think a major theme in this movie besides being a boxing movie is dedication and believing in yourself. In the beginning of this movie, we see Maggie training by herself not really knowing how to punch or move her feet, but she stayed everyday later than everyone else at the gym and kept working. She also believed in herself when Frankie told her that she was too old to box anymore. Despite his comments she stayed with it and became a very good boxer which Frankie would later train and manage.
I really love this film because the acting, humour, and soundtrack work together to create a captivating film, and not one easily forgotten. Personally, what really struck me about the film so far are the many scenes with the theme tune and Martin Freeman’s narration. Especially the quote that, “everything in boxing is backwards,” and I think the reason for that is because it makes boxing so much more than a sport, it’s highlighting a particular lifestyle. One in which you, “risk everything for a goal no one can see but you.”
ReplyDeleteIn terms of the film’s ending, I can see quite a few options, two of which i think are likely. Either, a conflict between Maggie and Frankie will arise because Frankie doesn’t want Maggie to get hurt and won’t take her to the title game, or, because of his experience with Willie at the beginning of the film he will take her to the game and she might get hurt, but I think that she’ll win. While I think this movie is definitely about Maggie proving herself capable as a woman in the boxing world, even if she doesn’t win, I think that it is also importantly about the friendship between her and Frankie, perhaps more than her success story in boxing.
This moment between Frankie and Maggie is awkward because their relationship is clearly platonic and without realizing it, this joke crossed the line of comfortable a smidge. They honestly seemed to have entered a relationship of a father and daughter, especially given their own situations. With Frankie writing to his daughter twice a week and his letters being constantly sent back, and Maggie, whose father seems to have passed away a while ago (even though it’s not that clear). This bond grows stronger when Frankie witnesses how ungrateful Maggie’s mother and sister were when Maggie used her money to buy them a house that Frankie suggested she buy for herself. I find this relationship believable and heartwarming because of their individual situations.
I predict she will be defeated unexpectedly by someone in a fight that matters but does not matter too much, and will then have to train extremely hard to regain her confidence. She will then get an unexpected opportunity for a rematch for a million dollars, and will win the fight. It just feels like the classic boxing movie. At the same time, I feel like this is more than just a normal boxing movie, so maybe there is some twist ending. I also think that there is something about the word baby in the title. I am not sure, but I am excited to find out how this ends.
ReplyDeleteThis movie has many themes. They look into socio-economic issues through Maggie and her family. Issues of gender, race, and identity are also explored. But the movie is really about the relationship between Maggie and Frankie. Two unlikely allies navigating the many hurdles life throws at them as their bond grows stronger and stronger throughout the film. It is a really touching story to watch, and I am interested to see where there relationship goes throughout the rest of the film.
The scene that stayed with me is when Maggie goes home to show her mother the house she bought for her. Maggie is extremely excited and positive as always, and is extremely excited to show Frankie her family and hometown. In this scene we learn that Maggie comes from an extremely depressing past. The mother is impoverished, obese, and has way too many children. She looks down on her daughter for trying to make something of herself, and it shows how special Maggie is. It's amazing how positive and hard working she is even though her mother and family look down on it.
Interesting points. Good vocabulary. Well done Mr. Schulder.
DeleteSo far I’ve really enjoyed Million Dollar Baby. The movie starts exciting with a fight scene that pulls the audience in, wondering who will win, and which trainer on which side of the fight the next two hours will be about. But barely twenty minutes into the movie, Frankie loses his fighter to another manager, and eventually shocks his society and maybe even himself by taking up as he would say “the new craze”, a female fighter, Maggie. From the beginning of the movie, I was on the edge of my seat. I’ve enjoyed watching the relationship between Frankie and Maggie play out, and I’m excited to see where they take each other in the end.
ReplyDeleteWhile I have enjoyed watching Million Dollar Baby and I do like it so far, Maggie’s success story almost seems too good to be true, or too easy to be true. Maggie has definitely lived a very hard life and nothing has ever been easy for her, but after watching that clip and thinking back to other boxing movies or even other sports movies, it seems unrealistic for someone of either gender to become that good that fast especially if they start training late in life lie Maggie did. In the movie, we mostly see Maggie either working or training, but Maggie’s training is nothing like that of the man training in the clip. While watching, I always partially expected Maggie to lose the next fight, and when she didn’t, I waited for it in the next one. To me, Maggie’s story has been too much of an incline to not have something bad happen to her at some point. Weather or not it will happen at the very end or somewhere along the way, I think Maggie’s success story will have a major fall.
I think the awkwardness in this scene is because Maggie and Frank are super close. Throughout the movie I think they develop a relationship somewhat like a father and daughter would have. In some way, Frankie has raised her to be who she is. I think the proposal joke seemed to come natural, but turned very awkward for him, realizing she was almost like a daughter to him. I think he did love her, but in a very different way. I think their relationship is very believable because of how the directors introduced it and presented its growth to the audience. I think it was very real, intense, and special to both of them as well because neither of them had very close family.
1. From our viewing of Million Dollar Baby, there was this one heartbreaking scene that stuck with me. It was when Maggie bought her mother a house, but after she said she didn’t want it, they all went back to her mother’s house, and Maggie said to her mother, “I’m a fighter, mama.” To that, her mother replied, “What are you doing Maggie? When people in this town hear what you’re doing, they just laugh.” Then, after she said that, she gave a demeaning smirk, as if Maggie should be ashamed of doing what she loved. As I’m typing this, I can still picture that moment when her mother gave her a smirk—it’s still fresh in my mind. I think that this scene stuck with me because I can relate to Maggie in the way that both of us belong a small community that watches your every move and always seems to have an opinion on every decision you make. It’s not very normal for people nowadays to have a community like that, so seeing this similarity on screen was really refreshing for me.
ReplyDelete2. From where we left off, things seemed to be pretty positive. Maggie just took Frankie to a diner with the best non-artificial lemon pie, so these two characters seem to be bonding quite nicely and Maggie’s boxing career looks successful. That is why I think this movie will end badly, because everything is so positive now. I’m thinking, maybe Frankie’s daughter will be involved somehow, or maybe Frankie will be faced with a difficult decision involving Maggie.
3. That moment was for sure an awkward moment shared between the two, but I think their whole relationship is like that. By “that,” I mean that there are some points where their relationship comes of as romantic rather than a father-daughter type of relationship. At some points, Maggie jumps on Frankie with her legs crossed around his waist, which can be seen as a romantic action, so sometimes, their relationship makes me uncomfortable. Now that I’m reflecting over that, I guess Maggie could also been seen as an innocent little 5 year old girl who jumps on her dad and gives him hugs. That’s probably why Frankie thinks this relationship with Maggie is worth it; he never had a second chance at a relationship with his own daughter, so this may be his way of fulfilling that hole in his life. I find it believable given Maggie’s personality, but any other girl, it might not be the same.
1. What really struck with me was when Maggie went home to see her family. I Know I am coming from a different background than Maggie’s mom, but I think that I would be pretty happy if my daughter had made it big and had bought me a house. As evidenced by Frank, some people’s daughters don’t care for them at all. Perhaps this was Clint Eastwood’s decision, but it seems that she is reduced to living more poorly (in a trailer) because of her dependence on the government, and its clear she dosen’t want her daughter to be a boxer, even though she’s a champion, and I think that if it was her son, she would react very different.
ReplyDelete2. I think that Maggie will have to go through some more difficult trial that challengers her in a way that it hasn’t before. Perhaps it will be physical/boxing related: her age has been alluded too throughout this movie. Maybe it will have to do with her family, or Frankie: we haven’t seen her fight without him. Perhaps it ends with her learning something new about herself. I can’t imagine it ends so poorly, however: Maggie has shown us that she is Frugal, is willing to work hard to obtain success, so it’s likely that she will be OK after the final bell rings.
3. Personally, I see this movie is about learning personal growth. Maggie represents this pretty overtly: physically, she gets stronger and she learns more about boxing over the course of the movie. In Frankie’s case, I think it’s slightly more subtle: he says “I don’t teach girls” at the beginning, for reasons we don’t know why (maybe it has to do with his daughter), but he opens up because of Maggie’s persistence and work ethic. Maybe he just wants a championship, as he doesn’t like putting his fighters at risk. Despite this, he decides to put Maggie up in England and beyond, rather than give in to his fear.
1. What really struck with me was when Maggie went home to see her family. I Know I am coming from a different background than Maggie’s mom, but I think that I would be pretty happy if my daughter had made it big and had bought me a house. As evidenced by Frank, some people’s daughters don’t care for them at all. Perhaps this was Clint Eastwood’s decision, but it seems that she is reduced to living more poorly (in a trailer) because of her dependence on the government, and its clear she dosen’t want her daughter to be a boxer, even though she’s a champion, and I think that if it was her son, she would react very different.
2. I think that Maggie will have to go through some more difficult trial that challengers her in a way that it hasn’t before. Perhaps it will be physical/boxing related: her age has been alluded too throughout this movie. Maybe it will have to do with her family, or Frankie: we haven’t seen her fight without him. Perhaps it ends with her learning something new about herself. I can’t imagine it ends so poorly, however: Maggie has shown us that she is Frugal, is willing to work hard to obtain success, so it’s likely that she will be OK after the final bell rings.
3. Personally, I see this movie is about learning personal growth. Maggie represents this pretty overtly: physically, she gets stronger and she learns more about boxing over the course of the movie. In Frankie’s case, I think it’s slightly more subtle: he says “I don’t teach girls” at the beginning, for reasons we don’t know why (maybe it has to do with his daughter), but he opens up because of Maggie’s persistence and work ethic. Maybe he just wants a championship, as he doesn’t like putting his fighters at risk. Despite this, he decides to put Maggie up in England and beyond, rather than give in to his fear.
So far I am really enjoying this movie. This movie has definitely kept me focused during the movie and not finding myself fading away. I really like movies about sports, because they often times are true and the storyline is very interesting and inspiring. A scene that has stuck with me is when willie was fighting and had just got hit very hard and ended up with a gash on his face. This scene particularly stuck out to me because it showed how much of a fighter he was and how much he wanted the title. There was a similar scene later on in the movie with Maggie but with her nose being broken. Another scene that I liked was when Maggie first showed up at the gym but Frankie kept telling her he doesn’t train girls but she was adamant on training and being coached under Frankie.
ReplyDeleteIn the end of the movie I see Maggie becoming more and more confident in her boxing ability. I imagine Maggie will become stronger everyday and continue to push herself to be the next star. Maggie becoming the best would show Frankie girls can win too. When Maggie first started competing in boxing she was clearly trained well and you could see improvement from day 1. I think Frankie had no confidence in her, but once he took her on it was part of growing there relationship to become the best.
The movie to me is an empowering sports documentary showing that women are almost as equal as men if they work hard enough. I think the big conflict was Frankie didn’t want to be seen training a woman because then it wasn’t very popular to have woman dominating the boxing world. Even today women are still seen lower than men. We saw Maggie persevere through all the negativity and still come out on top so far. Freddie was afraid of failure but he took a chance with Maggie which I think is a major aspect of this movie.
So far, I have enjoyed Million Dollar Baby. I do think that it can be a little slow sometimes, especially at the beginning when the movie was getting all the exposition out of the way, but overall it has been a pretty entertaining movie. One scene that has stuck with me after watching it, is the scene where Maggie keeps knocking her opponents out in one hit, or a few hits, during the first round. It is cut together well and it almost makes it comedic. The other scene that has stuck with me is when Maggie’s opponent breaks her nose, and Frankie tries his best to stop the bleeding and ends up stopping it just enough so that she can knock out her opponent. I think it stuck with me because it showed how good of a manager Frankie was.
ReplyDeleteIn the last quarter of Million Dollar Baby, I think that it will end with Maggie winning some grand title and then maybe Frankie or Eddie dying. I’m not familiar at all with the boxing genre, but I feel like it would end victorious for the boxer, but also tug on your heart strings a little before ending completely.
During the whole movie, I questioned Maggie and Frankie’s relationship because it seemed very strange. If this was a different movie, and Frankie was younger, I feel like they would have had some sort of romantic relationship at this point. However, their relationship to me seems more like a father and daughter relationship than anything romantic like that joke suggests. Frankie has lost contact with his daughter while Maggie’s family are completely unappreciative of her. They are both looking for family, and they find that in each other. The joke was strange and off the cuff, but I don’t think there was any romantic feelings involved with it. I think he just really wanted her to win that fight.
1. Given I missed the first part of this film so far, I have really enjoyed this movie. I love the main character, Maggie, and how driven and powerful her emotions are, even through her limited dialogue. What has stuck with me since we watched it on Friday is the evolution of her skill and aggression. We see at first her slowly training and just using her punching bags very lightly. However at the part we have stopped at, she is knocking people out in the first round continually and continually. I specifically keep remembering the image of her blood and bruised face after fights. And I distinctly remember Frankie popping her nose back into place after she had been punched during one of her fights.
ReplyDelete2. It’s really hard for me to imagine how this movie is going to end. However, I definitely see the plot of Frankie trying to contact and reconnect with his daughter becoming much more prominent. I do see things being successful for both Frankie and Maggie and them both ending up content in the end, in whichever way that takes form. I think this is because of the genre of movie, and how it’s all about the journey of a character and them achieving a goal. Frankie and Maggie both have goals and ambitions that they are fighting for throughout the entire movie, and I really do see them both achieving those things.
3. I think that one of the most important components of this movie and story line is the player/competitor and coach relationship. This relationship is always important in sports movies and specifically in boxing movies like this one. But this one is special, because I think Maggie and Frankie have created this father daughter relationship that is unique. It’s especially strong because of the fact that Maggie has not had a strong father figure in her life and we see that when she visits her mother. But more importantly, Frankie is in the search for his daughter, Katy, who he has had no luck in contacting. I think this dialogue was uncomfortable because for the entire film we have seen this has a mentor/mentee and competitor/coach relationship and this comment pushed it to a different place.
I think I may have seen this movie before because it seems vaguely familiar, but I don't remember exactly what happens and watching each scene is definitely affecting me more now than when I was younger. I am really enjoying Million Dollar Baby and each scene is beautifully done and clearly deeply packed with themes. I believe we are nearing the end of the movie and it's hard to pick out which scene has stuck with me the most. A very powerful scene for me was when Rockie went to Maggie’s apartment with a tape of the title boxer. This entire film is shrouded in shadows and a dim light, but the inside of Maggie’s place seemed especially dark. Despite her dismal living quarters, Maggie seems bright and cheery as ever. When she gets the news that Rockie wants her to fight in the title she jumps on him, an action that cleary makes him uncomfortable. It was also really powerful to me that she doesn't even have a tv, showing her devotion to saving her money and her complete focus on working and boxing. Maggie is not materialistic at all and that's a quality I really admire.
ReplyDeleteI can't remember the last boxing movie i've seen or how it ends, but it doesn't really seem set up to end well. The ever present shadows, and dim, fuzzy lighting throughout this movie seem foreboding. There are happy moments throughout but the overall tone seems dark. I could see the movie ending with Maggie winning a big fight, and a brief moment of happiness, but realizing it is probably her last which would bring her to the realization that she has nothing else. I could also see the end playing out as if she had already peaked, and her performance is on the decline. Maybe if the movie goes this way she will have time to discover another passion of hers and still salvage her life. I can't see a totally happy ending, but I hope i'm wrong for Maggie’s sake, she deserves happiness.
The scene when Rocky says if Maggie wins the fight, he’ll propose is full of meaning and in my opinion open to intern. Personally, I was very surprised to hear this remark from Rockie because I never would have assumed their relationship was romantic. We know that Rockie doesn't have a good relationship with his daughter, and Maggie’s father is no longer around. It seemed to me that they were filling a hole for each other. The relationship of a trainer to their student is already on that father level, as they are guiding you and coaching you. Their relationship took it one step further as they bonded and had a sort of dependency on each other. I think that Frankie’s visible embarrassment goes to show that he's aware what he just said was out of place in their relationship. I would be very surprised if the relationship between Maggie and Frankie turns romantic.
I have enjoyed Million Dollar Baby so far. It feels heartfelt and honest and even though it doesn’t fall in a genre that I usually enjoy, I am a fan of the movie at this point. One of the last scenes that we saw on Friday where Maggie was showing her mother and sister the house that she had bought for them and they berated her for making the purchase without consulting them. It was clear to me that they were jealous of her because she had actually made something of herself and escaped the crushing monotony and hopelessness of the life of poor white trailer park trash. I remember that her mother said that she should find a man, get married, and “live proper.” This quote summed up her family’s narrow minded view of how women should live.
ReplyDeleteI think there will be quite a bit of training for a big fight for a lot of money in the scecond half of the movie. I think that the bdon between Maggie and Frankie will deepen and then during the fight there will be a time when it looks like Maggie has no chance of winning and is bleeding heavily and then Frankie patches her up and gives her a pep talk and she goes out there and knocks her opponent out.
This movie is about class, dedication, selfishness, and fighting. The issue of class is evident in the scene with Maggie’s family in the trailer park and throughout the montages of Maggie waitressing and bussing tables for very little money. We see dedication and drive when Maggie stays at the gym after it closes to practice more and when she says that she doesn’t want anyone other than Frankie to train her. Selfishness and the question of taking care of your own needs versus being loyal to those around you can be seen when Frankie’s prize fighter leaves him after eight years for another manager that will give him the big fight that he can get a lot of money from.
1. I really like Million Dollar Baby so far. It well exceeded my expectations. I thought it might just be another boring boxing movie. But it’s more than that. The scene that stuck with me the most was the scene where Maggie return home to show her mom the house she bought for her. I liked the scene because I went into it thinking it was going to be a happy, heartwarming scene, but it quickly turned cold and sad. Maggie didn’t think about all the secondary consequences of owning a home, while her mother was rude and mean about the whole thing. Perhaps understandably so. It made the viewer realize that things are always more complicated than they seem.
ReplyDelete2. I see the movie ending with her losing the final fight. I think she will will lose and be really upset about it. But then she will realize what she gained in the end: a friend or even father-like figure in the form of Frankie.
3. I think this film is about attachment or lack thereof. Maggie is lonely, she hasn't had anyone that really loves her. As she said, “Man said he loves me...first since my daddy.” She also lives by herself. Frankie also lives alone, she has a daughter, but he isnt close to her. He was so afraid of losing Willie to a big fight that he didn’t let him really compete. Both main characters are looking for meaningful attachment, and I think they can find it in each other. Everything in boxing is backwards. Frankie and Maggie are living their entire lives backwards. Frankie visits the church everyday because he in subconsciously looking for the thing he is missing the most, attachment to other people. You see it in the way he interacts with Eddie. He clearly loves Eddie and Eddie is a great friend, but he is always so scruffy and sarcastic with him because he is scared to try to feel something.
“she has a daughter”? We expected more from you Mr. Assikis. Factually correct statements are expected on these responses.
DeleteI have so far really enjoyed this movie, as I have enjoyed watching Creed and all the Rocky movies. It has action which keeps the movie very interesting to me. One part of the movie that has stuck to me was when Maggie bought her mother a house which was very heartwarming to me the moment she told her trainer. But when her mother began to make fun of her passion and say that she would sell the house was very cold. All Maggie’s hard work went towards getting her mother a better home but her mother complained it and says it was a foolish mistake. This stuck with me because I have never seen someone so ungreatful especially in this situation because Maggie didn’t first get herself a place then think of her mother. Her mother came first before her own needs and her mother still felt no love in her heart to accept her daughter’s hard work.
ReplyDeleteHaving seen all the Rocky movies, Southpaw, and Creed she will face the toughest opponent in the world which will push her to reach a new level of boxing that she has never done before. She would come in as a underdog looking for respect and a title to show that her age means nothing to her ability. She will either win the fight after a long fought bloodbath or win the respect of the world in the fight she puts up.
The scene where Frankie says he would propose to Maggie is awkward because of the big age difference. If there wasn’t that big of a difference we would see nothing wrong but Frankie is a lot older than Maggie which makes it very awkward. It’s more relevant and believable for the story that Frankie fills in as a father figure for Maggie and she as his daughter because they both have family issues they can help each other out with. Frankie has taken Maggie and trained her and taken care of her as a father would with his daughter and Maggie has been respectful and attentive to what Frankie says. They spend a lot of time together which would make sense why they could become close and fill in those family gaps they have missed.
I really enjoy the Million Dollar Baby. The plot is solid, the characters are intriguing, and best of all they’re dynamic. Main characters have to share emotional resonance with the audience, so I really enjoy how Frankie, Eddy, and Maggie all slowly change their normal dispositions throughout the movie. The scene that stood out to me the most was when Maggie’s nose is broken and she wants to continue boxing, no matter what. Frankie really wants her to opt out, but Maggie won’t give in. She knows her mentor can fix it for as long as she needs it fixed, and there is a two way trust: Maggie trusts Frankie will keep her in for as long as she needs to win, and Frankie trusts her to get a knockout in as little time as possible.
ReplyDeleteI believe something will go wrong between Frankie and Maggie, and they will have to mend their bond last minute. I think Maggie should win the title, as she’s trained enough, has shown how she is in a league of her own, but of course the last match should push her past her limits. She may win the title, but be heavily injured or emotional injured by the end of the movie.
I think their relationship is a father- daughter one. This moment was awkward due to Frankie saying he would propose to her if she won, and Maggie’s delight to him saying that. But I believe Frankie was saying that as an understood sort of flattery. The father and daughter connection was setup by Frankie’s isolation with his actual daughter, so I would confidently say that there is no romantic relationship between them. Doing so would be detrimental to the film; their pre-established bond would be tarnished in a way if they dated or married.
I really like Million Dollar Baby so far. The story is very interesting and I can see all of the characters growing and changing as the movie continues. I think my favorite scene is when Maggie enters her first fight and is a little off her game at first, but once Frankie gives her the advice she needs, she knocks everyone out in the first punch. At that point, it is obvious that Maggie will go far and is a good competitor, but she did not know how to use her strengths to the best of her ability yet. It is also incredible how Maggie's muscle gain is so visible as she gets stronger and trains more.
ReplyDeleteI am not incredibly familiar with the genre of boxing, but if I just use the knowledge I have from the title and what I have watched so far, I think that Maggie will win the title and finally prove herself as being a woman fighter. There also might be some kind of conflict between now and when she wins the title either with Frankie or getting hurt. She will hopefully win the money she needs in the end and will be able to support herself and her family.
I find this scene to be awkward because to me, Frankie seems to be a father figure type to Maggie. Although it takes him a while to warm up to her and accept for for being a woman fighter, he gets over that fact and automatically takes her under his wing. I find their relationship believable because he wants nothing more than for Maggie to succeed, and he even uses money from his own pocket to get her fights. He is stern with her, but he will do anything to help her get to where she wants to go, similar to a father with his daughter.
I am really impressed by literally all the acting in this movie. I’m always impressed when the director is one of the main characters in a film, but the most amazing part is the high level of training required by Maggie (Hillary) in the film. Taking on the role of Maggie in the film must have been a huge commitment because when I see her in the ring, she looks like a fighter with years and years of experience. Plus, I think it was mentioned that Hillary Swank gained around 19 pounds of muscle over the course of training for this film, (which is a lot!) and which is evident by the time she starts taking on bigger fights and more skilled opponents. Even the rapidity in which she uses the speed bag shows a level of caliber that some actors may not have been able to achieve for the role of Maggie. I would not be surprised if Hillary Swank continued to box after playing Maggie in this film.
ReplyDeleteWhen looking at the Rocky montage below, Million Dollar Baby looks very similar to and very different from Rocky. Rocky, obviously, is a man, so the gender factor is not present in the film; however, they both have that level of determination that is so strange to believe is acting. Since I did not know where you stopped watching the film in class, I finished the movie, so I don’t want to spoil the film’s (really amazing) ending.
I think the theme of Million Dollar Baby is to take risks. It is present throughout the film with every single character. Frankie is obviously afraid to take risks, and we see how that ends his partnership with Willy, who ends up winning the title with another manager. Frankie is shown on the big screen what can happen when you take a risk; you can challenge to fight in the (Welterweight) Championship of the world. But, when you take a risk, you could also lose an eye (or more) like Scrap, which can haunt you forever.
Sorry for the late response, John.
I am really enjoying this movie so far. The acting is phenomenal and it is a lot more than just a boxing movie. It felt like all of the actors really felt a commitment or attachment to their characters in a way, especially Hillary Swank. Overall, the movie so far has me completely captured. I think the scene that really stuck with me is the scene at the diner with Scrap and Maggie, celebrating her birthday. Maggie notices the other manager in the diner who is trying to get her to hire him, and she tells him that she will never leave Frankie. This moment stuck with me because I think it really shows the nature of Maggie and Frankie's relationship, which I will come back to.
ReplyDeleteI see this movie as not only a boxing movie, but an underdog movie as well, each coming with their own 'stereotypes', without a better way to put it. Just based on my past experiences with movies like these, I'd say that Maggie will probably have a bad fight or something bad will happen to her that she'll come back from with the support of Scrap and Frankie (and who knows, maybe Danger fits in there somewhere). Also, I'm sure we will learn soon why Frankie goes to church every Sunday just to harass the priest and what happened to his relationship with his daughter. In the end, I think the movie is going to have one of those feel-good, everyone wins endings.
In that scene with the Englishman exchange between Maggie and Frankie, I think it was a little awkward because the nature of their relationship is not romantic in the slightest, but instead much more like that of a father and daughter, which is why Frankie was embarrassed with his comment. I think he sees Maggie as a version of his daughter before their falling out, and wants to protect her so that he doesn't lose her again. I think this is also why he tried to get rid of Maggie at first; He didn't want to become attached to her the way he has. Now he feels responsible for her and I think he's scared that something will happen to her, and history would repeat itself. I also think Maggie sees Frankie as the father figure she lost growing up. They have a special bond in which the other is filling the hole left behind by a lost loved one. I think the way Swank and Eastwood portrayed this was outstanding and completely believable.
So far, I am really enjoying this film. At first the pace of it and the characters did not intrigue me, but since this is a class room and not my living room, I couldn't just shut it off twenty minutes in and watch some other movie. So I watched, and I paid attention. I really enjoyed the scene of Maggie's first fight. At first she was terrible, but then once Frankie claimed her as his fighter, he gave her the guidance that she needed in order to win the match. I see the ending of million dollar baby having to do with some sort of final match. A title match that rides on money and pride. Like most films, I think this one will have something that Maggie needs in the end, that she can only get by winning some final, big, match against some specific antagonist. So far in this film, there has been no real antagonist, besides the characters own emotions and decisions. Maybe the director wanted us to see it that way. Maybe it isn't a story about good and evil. Maybe MIllion Dollar Baby is a story about healing, love and family? With the realization that there is no outstanding antagonist of this story, that leads me to believe that this story is not holistically about boxing. I believe the movie is about Frankie, who has some sort of painful and silent relationship with his daughter, and Maggie, who has a very parasitic relationship with her family and her parents as well, finding healing and a greater understanding of the world through what they offer to each other and through them becoming friends. That is just my take on the first three quarters. What's the movie really about? Who knows? I guess we will find out once we watch the last quarter of the film and see the climax!
ReplyDelete1. So far I am enjoying this film quite a lot. Honestly, the scene that has stayed with me the most has to be the scene providing the exposition on Maggie's background. The line about her being told all her life that she was "trash" followed up by shots of her stealing a half eaten steak off of a customers plate has stuck with me ever since as we have seen her character grow. The interesting thing to me about this character is just how striking a resemblance she bears to Ree Dolly from the novel we read Sophomore year: Winter's Bone. It was super interesting for me to see yet another strong if a bit uncouth woman from an extremely poor, rural white background in a leading role. This breeds interesting character development and I cannot think of a better niche for a character like that than a boxing ring.
ReplyDelete2. I can only see the ending going one way, and now that I have said that I am sure it will surprise me, but... The only way I can see this film ending is with Maggie facing some extremely difficult, insurmountable foe in an important title match. She will undergo rigorous training and the Bond between her and Frankie will strengthen in preparation for her toughest challenge yet. He will open up about his failures with his previous undertakings and convince her that she is different and has it in her to win. She will oblige and win the fight at some personal loss or something will cause her to be changed coming out of it.
3. I think that the reason that the proposal scene is so awkward between Maggie and Frankie is due to the fact that it highlights something integral to their relationship. At the core of their relationship, there is something familial, Frankie acting as a fatherly figure to Maggie. Because Maggie has no one in the world who truly cares for her and Frankie's daughter does not respond to his letters, they become co dependent in a way that goes further than simply coach and fighter. Due to their relationship being familial in that way, only being compounded by their difference in age, this comment from Frankie comes across as something odd or taboo that should not be said for risk of sounding incestuous. Maybe that is a bit strong... ah well...
After starting this new movie I'm having many mixed feelings. I initially really liked it because it's similar to the Rocky movies, which are some of my favorite, but it's horribly sexist. I do like how she never gives up though. I think may times women give up on themselves in society when a man tells them that they will fail. I also admire her work ethic so much. It's something that I wish I had myself. I only dance so many hours in the week and there are times where I wish I could just stay a few more hours to practice but never do. I admire that she does that and that she continues to work after hours when the studio or gym is closed. She also works so hard to provide for herself. She's either practicing or working at the restaurant and I love that. I also think it's funny how she continues to call him boss, I think it's one of the things that later in the movie is beginning to turn into a joke between them and shows how close they eventually become. As far as the actual filming itself goes, it's different that what I expected. I immediately associated this with Rocky and expected there to be the huge training scene with intense music but we never got that. It may come later, but so far we haven't gotten it. I also think it's cool how shadows are used to represent darkness. It adds a little extra something to the relationships between the characters. Like how in the shadows of the gym, the faces are completely covered but their bodies are in bright light.
ReplyDeleteMillion Dollar Baby was definitely more entertaining than Paths of Glory, but it still kept me out of my comfort zone. The movie starts out really slowly and takes awhile to get into. My favorite character in the entire film definitely has to be Scrap because I love Morgan Freeman. I feel that he was really able to show off his talents through this type of emotional film. All of the narration really got to me because I kept comparing Freeman's portrayal as Scrap to his portrayal of God in Bruce Almighty. The two characters really meshed together because the actor tends to play the same type of all-knowing people.
ReplyDeleteI was sick when we watched the film in class, as you can see from the extension on this blog, so I viewed the entire film at once on my own. I do not really know how to answer this question because I never had to guess. My only comment is that Maggie because a quadriplegic when the movie still had around 40 minutes to go. I remember pausing the moving and thinking what in the world could possibly happen when she’s paralyzed.
After Frankie says that he’ll marry Maggie if she wins the fight, I do remember being a little bit shocked that their relationship had developed that quickly to a more familial or friendly bond. In the beginning, Frankie was so steadfast in his decision to not train Maggie that I believed he would just keep his walls up for most of the movie. I absolutely believed that Maggie had thawed Frankie's heart. I thought it was a very beautiful connection because we know that Frankie's daughter is absent in his life and that all of the letters he sends her come back unopened. Maggie has filled this place in her trainer's heart that makes him whole again.
After watching the first half of Million Dollar Baby, I felt anxious to watch the rest. It felt like the scenes were rapidly building to something huge, especially in the montage of Maggie being trained by Frankie. I remember the scene in which Frankie is attempting to read Gaelic in his office most clearly. The irony of a tough, gritty boxer stumbling over Scottish literature made me smile. This scene also spoke to Frankie’s character: it gave the audience the sense that although Frankie is, by nature, a bit of an ogre in his, “tough ain’t enough” attitude, he has complexity and sophistication.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching the first half of this film, like I said before, I felt like it was building to something greater. I wasn’t really sure what I thought would happen but generally, I was sure that Maggie would have an important fight and she and Frankie would have to come to an important decision. I also expected Frankie’s daughter to finally reach out to him or for them to end up reconnecting.
Both characters lack an important family member. For Maggie, this person is her “daddy,” while Frankie’s is Katy, his daughter. This absence in their lives, along with the time they have spent laughing, working, and fighting together created an inevitable father-daughter bond. Even if Maggie and Frankie don’t quite realize it themselves, they are family, so when Frankie makes the joke, “You win, I’ll propose” it is slightly uncomfortable for both. Although Maggie is able to see it as it is, a joke, Frankie worries that he crossed a line. He fears that Maggie viewed the statement as slightly suggestive even though it was rooted fully in humor. Maggie is charmed because she sees that even though the statement itself perhaps crossed a line, Frankie’s intent didn’t, which is clear as he grows uncomfortable.