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Tell Others About This Page By Using This Button "MILLION DOLLAR BABY" (2004) (Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank) (PG-13) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Mild Heavy Heavy Moderate None Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Mild None None None Heavy Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Moderate None Moderate Moderate Heavy QUICK TAKE: Drama: A craggy veteran boxing manager reluctantly agrees to train an aspiring, thirty-something female fighter who's determined to make something of her limited life. PLOT: Craggy veteran boxing manager and trainer Frankie Dunn (CLINT EASTWOOD) has seen better days. Not only is his gym filled with mediocre to laughable boxers -- Shawrelle Berry (ANTHONY MACKIE) and Danger Barch (JAY BARUCHEL) respectively -- but his best fighter, Big Willie Little (MIKE COLTER), has just left him for a manager he believes won't keep holding him back from advancing to the big bouts. To make matters worse, Maggie Fitzgerald (HILARY SWANK), a poor, thirty-something waitress, keeps pestering him to train her. Although his best friend and former boxer Eddie Scrap-Iron Dupris (MORGAN FREEMAN) -- who looks after Frankie's gym -- thinks he should give her a chance, the veteran initially refuses her repeated requests. When she proves that she may have what it takes to be a champion, however, he eventually agrees to be her manager and trainer. With hopes that she'll eventually get to fight German champion Billie "The Blue Bear" (LUCIA RIJKER), Maggie trains hard and starts piling up many victories. Yet, with their respective personal issues with family and other matters, as well as an unexpected turn of events, the unlikely duo try to make the best of their situation. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? If they're into movies about boxing or are fans of someone in the cast, they might, but this one doesn't seem too enticing for most any other kids. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13 For violence, some disturbing images, thematic material and language. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: CLINT EASTWOOD plays a crotchety, and seemingly constantly irritated boxing gym owner and manager who reluctantly agrees to manage Maggie despite his reservations. He ends up caring for her deeply (including an unexpected turn of events), all while dealing with his own issues. He uses some profanity. HILARY SWANK plays a thirty-something, white trash waitress who desperately desires to be a competitive boxer and wants Frankie to train her. She displays a lot of dedication and hard work to achieve her goal, but must deal with a serious setback. MORGAN FREEMAN plays a former boxer and resident handyman and assistant to Frankie who lives at the gym. MIKE COLTER plays Frankie's most prized fighter who leaves him after many years when he feels he's being held back. JAY BARUCHEL plays a young and inspired but untalented boxer who makes some uneducated, racist remarks. ANTHONY MACKIE plays another boxer who mocks Maggie and Danger and eventually beats up the latter in the ring. LUCIA RIJKER plays a feared female boxer known for her dirty tactics in the ring who fights Maggie. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: The following is a brief summary of the content found in this drama that's been rated PG-13. Profanity includes at least 1 use of the "f' word, while other expletives and colorful phrases are uttered. Some brief sexually related dialogue is present, while some women are briefly seen in skimpy attire. Violence includes standard boxing footage (with bloody results), as well as other fighting; an accident that leaves a person paralyzed from the neck down and an assisted suicide. Some of that material and other elements - such as gross-looking bed sores and a quadriplegic wishing to die -- may be unsettling for some viewers. Various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes, tense family material involves strained familial relationships, and some characters drink. Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to look more closely at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE Some miscellaneous people drink beer at a boxing match. Eddie talks of a manager in the past off getting drunk. Miscellaneous people drink beer at a match. Frankie has a beer as do Billie and her manager. Eddie briefly talks of Mai-Tais and looking at naked women in Vegas. BLOOD/GORE A boxer has some blood on his face during a match, and Frankie tries to get it to stop. He eventually tells the boxer to let his opponent punch him on that wound to drive the coagulant deep into it. Maggie has a little blood on her face during a bout. We see more blood from Maggie's nose during a fight. Maggie has blood from her nose during a fight. Frankie then diagnoses that it's broken and thus he breaks it back (we hear and see the cracking). It's a graphic and bloody fix, but it's also played a bit for comedy. Eddie discovers an overflowing toilet (but we don't see anything particularly gross). While Eddie is briefly away, Shawrelle takes the opportunity to fight the over-matched Danger in an impromptu bout. We see Shawrelle beating him, resulting in Danger's face being very bloody. Eddie then stops that and then repeatedly punches Shawrelle with his bare hands, easily and sounding beating him and prompting the boxer to spit out a bloody tooth. Maggie has some blood on her face during a match. We see bad bed sores on a quadriplegic's arms. We see a really bad bed sore on a person's leg (it's very gross) and we hear that they may have to amputate. We later hear and see that they did. We see that a bed-ridden patient, in an attempt to commit suicide, has bitten their tongue so hard that there's blood all over their face, neck and hospital gown (we don't see the act, just the aftermath). DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE Frankie refers to Maggie as "girlie." Some viewers may not like Frankie (or the film) for getting a priest to call Frankie a "f*cking pagan" or for Frankie trying to bait him about religion. A young and seemingly uneducated white boxer -- Danger -- says "I ain't got nothing against niggers." Shawrelle mocks Maggie, acting as if surprised that she's female and making fun of her "little bitty t*tties," saying they look like mosquito bites and that they're barely a mouthful. Danger then imitates Shawrelle, ending up falling to the floor and then mock humping it. Frankie comments on female boxing, "It's the latest freak show out there." Yet, he later agrees to manage her. Frankie pays another manager on the side to agree to have his boxer fight Maggie. Frankie refers to Billie (from Germany) as a "Scabby Kraut." Maggie's mother is anything but grateful when Maggie informs her that she just bought a house for her with her winnings. Her sister is similarly ungrateful and complains about the news, while her mom tells Maggie to live properly and find a man (rather than box). While Eddie is briefly away, Shawrelle takes the opportunity to fight the over-matched Danger in an impromptu bout. We see Shawrelle beating him, resulting in Danger's face being very bloody. He also calls Danger a "retard" and Eddie "old school." Eddie makes him pay for that, however, by beating him up. Billie, who's known as a dirty fighter, elbows Maggie in the face and then punches her on the floor. In turn, and from orders by Frankie, Maggie delivers a cheap shot back at Billie to hurt her. Frankie is upset with Eddie for not telling him to stop training a boxer who got injured (he later apologizes). We hear that Maggie's family went to a theme park for several days rather than visiting her in the hospital first. Some of Maggie's family members have bad attitudes toward Frankie (who's only trying to protect her from them). Her mom also wants her to sign away her rights and money to her. Some may see a person who helps a quadriplegic commit suicide as having a bad attitude. FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Violence" and "Blood/Gore" may be unsettling or suspenseful to some younger viewers and/or those with low tolerance levels for such material. After a round is done, a boxer delivers a sucker punch that knocks the opponent off their feet, sending them falling toward an upended stool on the mat. We think they're going to be impaled on one of the legs, but the boxer's head hits the side of the stool and we hear their neck snap (that leaves them paralyzed from the neck down). A person helps another with an assisted suicide by injecting adrenaline into their IV line. GUNS/WEAPONS None. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "You f*cking pagan," "She can't fight worth a sh*t anyway," "Bullsh*t," "You can't write this sh*t," "Girlie," "Niggers," "Shut up," "Ass whooping," "What the hell kind of language is that?" "Scratch ass," "Don't be a smart ass," "I'll be damned," "Punk," "I wonder how the hell she got that?" "Keep the G*ddman thing," "So damn old," "Hell of a fighter," "What the hell /is that/are you doing?" "A hell of a job," "Get the hell down," "Scabby Kraut," "Why the hell would I want to do that?" "Go to hell" (said playfully), "How the hell are we going to do that?" "Give 'em hell," "Dumb ass," "Old school," "Retard," "Stay down, bitch," "Skinny ass," "Stay the hell out of this," "Your fat, lazy, hillbilly ass" and "You're damn right." The film could inspire some girls to take up boxing. Maggie takes used food left by customers at the restaurant where she works and later eats it. A person has a tattoo. A person helps another with an assisted suicide by injecting adrenaline into their IV line. JUMP SCENES None. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) None. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None. PROFANITY At least 1 "f" word (with another mouthed with the prefix "mother), 3 "s" words, 4 slang terms for breasts (variations of "t*t"), 1 slang term using male genitals ("d*ck"), 22 hells, 9 damns, 6 asses, 3 craps, 3 uses of "Jesus Christ," 2 each of "G-damn," "God," "Jesus," "Oh my God" and "Mother of God." SEX/NUDITY Shawrelle mocks Maggie, acting as if surprised that she's female and making fun of her "little bitty t*tties," saying they look like mosquito bites and that they're barely a mouthful. Danger then imitates Shawrelle, ending up falling to the floor and then mock humping it. We see Maggie in a sports bra. We hear that Billie (a female boxer) is a former prostitute. We see the boxing round lady (the one who carries the boxing round number around the ring on a card raised above her head between the rounds) in very small shorts (that show the lower parts of her butt cheeks) that the camera briefly focuses on. We later see another such young and shapely woman who wears a cleavage and midriff-revealing top. Eddie briefly talks of Mai-Tais and looking at naked women in Vegas. SMOKING None. TENSE FAMILY SCENES Maggie states that her father is dead, her mother weights 300 plus pounds and her brother is in jail. We hear that Frankie has an estranged daughter. Eddie delivers some voice over narration about some wounds being too close to the bone and says so in reference to Frankie and his estranged daughter. We see that Frankie keeps all of the letters he's sent his daughter that have all been marked as return to sender. Maggie's mother is anything but grateful when Maggie informs her that she just bought a house for her with her winnings. Her sister is similarly ungrateful and complains about the news, while her mom tells Maggie to live properly and find a man (rather than box). TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT The notion that boxing is about respect in getting it for yourself and taking it away from your opponent. Female boxing and boxers. Maggie states that she grew up knowing one thing and that was that she was trash. Maggie stating that boxing is all that she has going for her. We hear that Eddie lost an eye during a fight in the past that Frankie believes he should have called off in the past, but was only the cut-man and thus didn't have the authority. Living with suddenly being in a quadriplegic state. Assisted suicide. The notion that people die every day thinking they didn't get their one shot in life. VIOLENCE We see some standard-issue boxing violence during a match. We see more boxing violence. Maggie has blood from her nose during a fight. Frankie then diagnoses that it's broken and thus he breaks it back (we hear and see the cracking). It's a graphic and bloody fix, but it's also played a bit for comedy. While Eddie is briefly away, Shawrelle takes the opportunity to fight the over-matched Danger in an impromptu bout. We see Shawrelle beating him, resulting in Danger's face being very bloody. Eddie then stops that and then repeatedly punches Shawrelle with his bare hands, easily and sounding beating him and prompting the boxer to spit out a bloody tooth. Billie elbows Maggie in the face and then punches her on the floor. In turn, and from orders by Frankie, Maggie delivers a cheap shot back at Billie to hurt her. After a round is done, a boxer delivers a sucker punch that knocks the opponent off their feet, sending them falling toward an upended stool on the mat. We think they're going to be impaled on one of the legs, but the boxer's head hits the side of the stool and we hear their neck snap (that leaves them paralyzed from the neck down). We see that a bed-ridden patient, in an attempt to commit suicide, has bitten their tongue so hard that there's blood all over their face, neck and hospital gown (we don't see the act, just the aftermath). A person helps another with an assisted suicide by injecting adrenaline into their IV line. Reviewed December 8, 2004 / Posted January 7, 2005

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