Million Dollar Baby

One line review: Million Dollar Baby gives a brutally harsh story of boxers at the end of their rope or just struggling to make a life for themselves.

Movie Title: Million Dollar Baby

Actors: Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman, Jay Baruchel, Mike Colter, Lucia Rijker, Brían F. O’Byrne , Anthony Mackie, Margo Martindale, Riki Lindhome, Michael Peña

Director: Clint Eastwood

Year: 2004

Genre: Drama

Method of Viewing: DVD

Location of Viewing: Home

Viewing with: No One

Rotten Tomatoes: 92% – Clint Eastwood’s assured direction – combined with knockout performances from Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman – help Million Dollar Baby to transcend its clichés, and the result is deeply heartfelt and moving.

My rating: ****

My assessment (the first 101 words at least): There is a rather large spoiler that I will more or less gloss over, but I will say that I had the movie spoiled for me before I watched it and seriously regret it. The end point is that this film breaks a lot of cliches which is refreshing and manages to get you to care for the characters in an incredibly short amount of time. Something within you will immediately have you fighting for the characters, making the impact of the events of the third act that much more powerful. While not one of my favorites, and extremely good film.

Unforgiven

One line review: Giving the Western genre a small twist, Unforgiven gives a third dimension to it’s characters that you wouldn’t expect from this type of movie.

Movie Title: Unforgiven

Actors: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Richard Harris

Director: Clint Eastwood

Year: 1992

Genre: Western

Method of Viewing: DVD

Location of Viewing: Home

Viewing with: No One

Rotten Tomatoes: 96% – As both director and star, Clint Eastwood strips away decades of Hollywood varnish applied to the Wild West, and emerges with a series of harshly eloquent statements about the nature of violence.

My rating: ****

My assessment (the first 101 words at least): Perhaps as my first Western to ever watch, this was a poor choice. This movie seemed more aimed towards either breaking the conventions you have assumed about a Western, or just to provide a fitting end to Clint Eastwood’s series of Western films. Either way, you can’t deny that it’s a great movie. There’s something so entertaining about watching a hard ass like Clint Eastwood struggle with everything from getting on his horse to resisting the urge to drink. You want to fight for him, you want to believe that there can be redemption. It’s a fantastic film, a great Western.

The Shawshank Redemption

One line review: This movie absolutely absorbs you into it’s characters; you feel down when they are down and you feel elated when they succeed.

Movie Title: The Shawshank Redemption

Actors: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton, William Sadler, Clancy Brown, Gil Bellows, Mark Rolston, James Whitmore

Director: Frank Darabont

Year: 1994

Genre: Drama

Method of Viewing: DVD

Location of Viewing: Home

Viewing with: No One

Rotten Tomatoes: 88% – An amazing movie. Easily one of the best movies made during the 90s and definitely one of the top ‘prison’ movies of all-time. Pretty much everything about this movie works and works extremely well!

My rating: *****

My assessment (the first 101 words at least): I can find nothing wrong with this movie. I’m not claiming that this movie is somehow perfect, I simply can’t find anything to complain about it. The characters are fantastic, each one with their own unique style and motivation. The plot is fascinating, not only with minor bumps along the way as each character grows and changes, but with an overall arc that is genius. The actors do a fantastic job of conveying a variety of emotions not just through dialog but with minor changes in their attitude and appearance. This is a fantastic movie, worthy of the status it’s earned.