This movie is based an an adapted story written by F.X Toole: Stories from the Corner. Maggie Fitzgerald is an aspiring boxer from southwest Missouri and she wants to learn from the best. She’s been working as a waitress since she was 13 years old and she wants to get away from this life. She would like Frankie Dunn to train her. In the beginning, he flatly refuses saying he has no interest in training a girl!! Frankie lives a lonely existence, alienated from his only daughter and having very few friends. Maggie needs some smoothing and she’s rough around the edges. She shows a lot of grit in the ring and Frankie finally relents about training her. Maggie excels in her workouts and she proves to be the boxer he has always dreamed of training. She also becomes a friend to Frankie and she fills a great void he’s always had in his life. Frankie has written many letters to his daughter but they always come back unopened and marked return to sender. Maggie’s career skyrockets and she's knocking out other women boxers left and right!!
Be prepared for the fight scenes to be brutally realistic and there are graphic injuries. There are ugly insults and some viewers may be unhappy with a priest using bad language? The script is well written and the characters are believable. Maggie is determined to make something of herself. Will Frankie finally do everything it takes to get Maggie to the top? 5* (I really liked this movie.
132 min, Drama directed by Clint Eastwood, written by Paul Haggis and F.X. Toole with Hilary Swank, Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Jay Baruchel, Mike Colter, Lucia Rijker, Brian F. O’Byrne, Anthony Mackie, Margo Martindale, Riki Lindhome, Michael Pena, Benito Martinez, Bruce MacVittie, David Powledge, Joe D’Angerio.
Note: Imdb 8.1* with 601,061 reviews, Roger Ebert 4*, Rotten Tomatoes 91% critic with 268 critics 90% audience with 404,865 scores, EmpireOnline 4*, Slant Magazine 3 1/2* Ed Gonzalez, Amazon 4.6* out of 5* with 769 reviews, Common Sense Media 3* out of 5* Nell Minow, age 14+, 3* positive, 3* violence, 1* sex, 3* language, 3* drinking, drugs & smoking.
Special Note: Behind the scenes boxing and kickboxing champion Lucia Rijker is Hilary Swank’s boxing coach. She also plays the part of Billie “The Blue Bear” in one of Maggie's fights. Clint Eastwood became the oldest Best Director Oscar winner for this movie and he was 74 years old. Originally Morgan Freeman was asked to play the role of Frankie Dunn but he decided to take the role of Eddie “Scrap-Iron” Dupris instead. Swank underwent a serious training schedule to prepare for this role. She gained nearly twenty pounds of muscle during workouts. You can see her body changing as her training goes along. She contracted a bacterial infection from a blister on her foot and she nearly had to be hospitalized for three weeks. She chose to take a week off for medicated rest and she didn’t talk to anyone about the injury. This film stayed in the top five at the box-office every weekend from the time it was nominated for Best Picture until after the Academy Awards.
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