Eastwood’s ‘Million Dollar Baby’ a contender

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MILLION DOLLAR BABY, directed by Clint Eastwood, written by Paul Haggis, 133 minutes, rated PG-13.

At this year’s major awards shows – the Critics’ Choice Awards, the Golden Globes, the Academy Awards – the real battle for best picture will come down to a fight between a billionaire aviator, a million-dollar boxer and a penniless drunk.

Martin Scorsese’s “The Aviator,” Clint Eastwood’s “Million Dollar Baby” and Alexander Payne’s “Sideways” – those are the movies generating the most heat for awards consideration.

At first, it seemed as if “Sideways” was the shoo-in – it’s a marvelous movie, with performances by Paul Giamatti and Virginia Madsen that won’t go unnoticed when the Academy nominates later this month. But when “The Aviator” opened, the race tightened, with “Sideways” suddenly sidelined and on shaky ground.

Now comes “Baby,” which is so terrific, it throws everything into question. It’s the best movie of Eastwood’s career and it very well could leave “Sideways” in a slump and Scorsese without the Oscar that has eluded him throughout his own career.

Based on a screenplay by Paul Haggis, the film is the story of Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank), a 31-year-old, self-described piece of “trash” whose dream is to become a prize-winning boxer under Frankie Dunn (Eastwood), a gruff boxing trainer and manager who “doesn’t train girlies” and who wants Maggie out of his gym.

But Maggie isn’t going anywhere. And so, with the encouragement of Frankie’s best friend, Scrap (Morgan Freeman), who narrates the film and helps to manage Frankie’s gym, Maggie perseveres until Frankie acquiesces. He agrees to train and manage her, so long as she does things his way.

While there’s nothing new in that story, it’s what Eastwood does with it that makes “Million Dollar Baby” worth as many accolades.

Indeed, what Frankie and Maggie find in each other is something deeper than the sport that binds them. As Maggie rises up through the ranks with a stunning series of wins – she’s a natural in the ring, as light on her feet as Eastwood is behind the camera – Frankie realizes a relationship with her that he doesn’t share with his estranged daughter. Likewise, Maggie realizes with Frankie the relationship she can’t have with her family, whose cruelty knows no limits.

Mirroring the football movie “Friday Night Lights,” “Million Dollar Baby” thus transcends the sport. It’s about the surrogate families we create for ourselves – the relationships we choose to have, rather than the relationships born out of blood.

It creates an emotional bond with its audience that’s as solid and as meaningful as anything shared between its characters. You invest yourself so completely in the story – and in the lives of Frankie, Maggie and Scrap – that by the time Eastwood drives home his final, awful twist, you’re left devastated and spent.

Superbly crafted and acted, with an unassuming score composed by Eastwood himself, “Million Dollar Baby” is timeless, classic, seemingly effortless. While I think “The Aviator” still has the edge for Best Picture, if only because of its grander scope and the balance of drama, comedy and romance Scorsese had to strike, “Million Dollar Baby” joins “Sideways” in existing on its own plane. At this year’s awards shows, it’ll be interesting to see how it all shakes out.

Grade: A

On video and DVD

TROY, directed by Wolfgang Petersen, written by David Benioff, 162 minutes, rated R.

Wolfgang Petersen’s “Troy” may star Brad Pitt in the lead, but he’s no reason to see the movie. Instead, it’s Australian-born Eric Bana (“Hulk”) who rises from the film’s blood, severed limbs and ashes to deliver a performance that’s so confident, it galvanizes an otherwise lightweight movie undeserving of its 21/2-hour running time.

Based on a screenplay by David Benioff, the film is sandbagged by a been-there, seen-that feel. It tries to mount interest in its battles, but Petersen shoots them in such tight, claustrophobic close-up, all scale is lost just when it’s needed most.

The chaos of war is achieved here, but what’s missing is an emotional connection to the death that hovers over it. This is one of the most ambivalent war movies Hollywood has produced, with the viewer not always clear for whom to root.

As the film begins, Helen (Diane Kruger) has caused more than her share of trouble. After leaving her husband, King Menelaus (Brendan Gleeson) of Sparta, for the likes of Paris (Orlando Bloom), cowardly son of Troy’s King Priam (Peter O’Toole), King Agamemnon (Brian Cox) of Mycenae sends his troops to conquer Troy.

He doesn’t do so out of loyalty to his brother, Menelaus, though that is how he makes it appear. Instead, he does so because Helen’s betrayal has given him an excuse to finally take over Troy, even if it means the slaughtering of thousands of his own men.

Though there are moments in “Troy” that do linger, such as when Hector casts huge balls of fire toward his enemy, and especially a key scene between Priam and Achilles that comes late in the film, one has to wonder where are the immortal gods of Homer’s poem? Was Petersen fearful of creating another “Clash of the Titans” if he included them? Possibly. Worse is the dialogue, which is stiff and sometimes silly, especially when spoken by Pitt, whose self-conscious performance sends the movie straight down the Aegean, where it eventually sinks.

Grade: C-

Christopher Smith is the Bangor Daily News film critic. His reviews appear Mondays and Fridays in Style, 5:30 p.m. Thursdays on WLBZ 2 Bangor and WCSH 6 Portland, and are archived at RottenTomatoes.com. He may be reached at BDNFilm1@aol.com.

The Video-DVD Corner

Renting a video or a DVD? NEWS film critic Christopher Smith can help. Below are his grades of recent releases in video stores. Those in bold print are new to video stores this week.

Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy – B+

At Home at the End of the World – B+

The Bourne Supremacy – B

The Chronicles of Riddick – C-

The Clearing – C+

Collateral – B+

Dawn of the Dead – A-

The Day After Tomorrow- B

De-Lovely – B

Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story – B

Elf – B+

Ella Enchanted – B

Envy – D

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – A-

Fahrenheit 9/11 – A-

Fog of War – A

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – A-

Hero – B+

I, Robot – B+

Kill Bill Vol. 2 – B

King Arthur – B

The Manchurian Candidate – B+

Man on Fire – B

Mean Girls – B+

Napoleon Dynamite – B+

Open Water – A-

Raising Helen – C+

Shaun Of The Dead – B+

Shrek 2 – B

Spider-Man 2 – A

The Stepford Wives – C

Soul Plane – D

Super Size Me – C-

The Terminal – D

The Triplets of Belleville- A

Troy – C-