Million Dollar Baby

Million Dollar Baby is a 2004 dramatic film directed by Clint Eastwood. The screenplay was written by Paul Haggis based on short stories by F.X. Toole, the pen name for fight manager and "cut man" Jerry Boyd, originally published under the title Rope Burns, which have since been republished under the movie's title. It stars Eastwood, Hilary Swank, and Morgan Freeman. It is the story of an under-appreciated boxing trainer, his elusive past, and his quest for atonement in helping an underdog amateur female boxer achieve her fragile dream of becoming a professional.

Criticism

Disability rights activists

In January and February 2005, the film became controversial when some disability rights activists protested the ending of the film, in which Frank carries out Maggie's wish to die after she becomes quadriplegic as a result of a spinal cord injury suffered during her last fight. Prominent among these critics was John Hockenberry, long-time NPR and NBC correspondent and paraplegic.http://www.milliondollarbigot.org/loser.html http://www.lifenews.com/bio674.html http://www.chicagoreader.com/hottype/2005/050128_1.html

Related Topics:
Disability rights activists - Quadriplegic - Spinal cord injury - John Hockenberry

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The Weekly Standard also criticized the movie for its ending and for missed opportunities. http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/005/307qsmui.asp

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Christian Right and social conservatives

Around the same time, it was criticized by activists from the Christian Right and social conservatives, including Rush Limbaugh and Michael Medved, on the same issue. Medved stated that: "My main objection to Million Dollar Baby always centered on its misleading marketing, and effort by Warner Brothers to sell it as a movie about a female Rocky, with barely a hint of the pitch-dark substance that led Andrew Sarris of the New York Observer (hardly a right-winger) to declare that 'no movie in my memory has depressed me more than Million Dollar Baby.'" http://www.opinionjournal.com/la/?id=110006305

Related Topics:
Christian Right - Rush Limbaugh - Michael Medved

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Sportswriters

On a more topical level, Million Dollar Baby has been criticized by some sportswriters as being greatly inaccurate and confusing from a boxing perspective. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=bayless/050225 Some Irish speakers have also criticized the fact that the phrase Mo Chuisle was misspelled in the movie as Mo Cuishle, but the movie has also been praised for awakening interest in the Irish language. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/26/opinion/26davis.html?ex=1267160400&en=63b9bdbd40e19929&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland

Related Topics:
Sportswriter - Irish

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Responses to criticism

Eastwood responded to the criticism by pointing out the movie was about the American dream. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/13/arts/13rich.html?ex=1265778000&en=20285b456ee22b66&ei=5090&partnrer=rssuserland In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Eastwood distanced himself from the actions of characters in his films, noting, "I've gone around in movies blowing people away with a .44 magnum. But that doesn't mean I think that's a proper thing to do" http://www.newsday.com/custom/envelope/oscars/cl-wk-mdb27jan27,0,6604453.story?coll=cl-oscst. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times, who named the film his favorite of 2004, believes "a movie is not good or bad because of its content, but because of how it handles its content. Million Dollar Baby is classical in the clean, clear, strong lines of its story and characters, and had an enormous emotional impact." http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050129/ESSAYS/501290301/1008

Related Topics:
Los Angeles Times - Roger Ebert - Chicago Sun Times

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