Million Dollar Baby

"Beyond his silence, there is a past. Beyond her dreams, there is a feeling. Beyond hope, there is a memory. Beyond their journey, there is a love."

2004 2h 12m EN

🙌

8.0

BANGER

🔥

90%

CERTIFIED FRESH

💯

METACRITIC

⭐

8.1

IMDB

★8.0TMDB · 10,642🍅90%Rotten Tomatoes●86Metacritic★8.1IMDB · 765,230

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Despondent over a painful estrangement from his daughter, trainer Frankie Dunn isn't prepared for boxer Maggie Fitzgerald to enter his life. But Maggie's determined to go pro and to convince Dunn and his cohort to help her.

“Beyond his silence, there is a past. Beyond her dreams, there is a feeling. Beyond hope, there is a memory. Beyond their journey, there is a love.”

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Cast

Clint Eastwood
Frankie Dunn
Hilary Swank
Maggie Fitzgerald
Morgan Freeman
Eddie Scrap-Iron Dupris
Jay Baruchel
Danger Barch
Mike Colter
Big Willie Little
Lucia Rijker
Billie 'The Blue Bear'
Brían F. O'Byrne
Father Horvak
Anthony Mackie
Shawrelle Berry

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Clint Eastwood
Writers: Paul Haggis, F.X. Toole
Languages: English, Irish
Countries: United States of America, Switzerland

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 7.2× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 22 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Irish.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: United States of America, Switzerland.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Clint Eastwood, shot by Tom Stern. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Clint Eastwood. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Joel Cox shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Clint Eastwood and Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Clint Eastwood directs. Tom Stern behind the camera. Clint Eastwood scores. Joel Cox cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America, Switzerland. Dialogue in English, Irish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 7.2× over at the box office.
2Released 22 years ago.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Irish.
4International production across 2 countries: United States of America, Switzerland.
5Directed by Clint Eastwood, shot by Tom Stern. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Clint Eastwood. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Joel Cox shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Clint Eastwood and Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "Beyond his silence, there is a past. Beyond her dreams, there is a feeling. Beyond hope, there is a memory. Beyond their journey, there is a love.".
10IMDB entry: tt0405159 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
1110,642 TMDB user ratings logged — serious cultural footprint.
12Classified under 22 themes, including "dying and death", "transporter", "strong woman", "stroke of fate".
13Released under 11 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Tom Stern
Original score: Clint Eastwood
Editing: Joel Cox
Production design: Henry Bumstead
Costume design: Deborah Hopper
Makeup / hair: Nancy Hancock
Sound: Christopher Boyes
Stunt coordinator: Buddy Van Horn
Runtime: 132 min · 2h 12m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $30,000,000
Box office: $216,763,646
Return: 723% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Million Dollar Baby (2004)
Rotten Tomatoes: 90% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 86/100
IMDB rating: 8.1/10 · 765,230 votes
MPAA: PG-13

Awards

Won 4 Oscars. 68 wins & 86 nominations total

National Board of Review: Top Ten Films
César Award for Best Foreign Film
Academy Award for Best Picture
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Film
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Academy Award for Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Director

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Clint Eastwood

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Wuchak2018-12-19
★ 6/10
Female “Rocky” with a downbeat and contradictory close Released in 2004 and directed by Clint Eastwood, “Million Dollar Baby” stars Eastwood as a cantankerous boxing trainer who owns a working class gym in Los Angeles, which is maintained by one of his former boxers, the narrator of the story (Morgan Freeman). A waitress from the sticks of Missouri (Hilary Swank) shows up and asks that Frankie (Eastwood) train her, which he refuses to do because she’s too old at 32 and he “doesn’t train girls,” probably because he had an unexplained falling out with his daughter years earlier. Eventually he begrudgingly agrees. The bulk of the film is basically a female version of “Rocky” (1976), except that I prefer the potent drama in this one. The three main characters are well fleshed-out with an all-around reverent tone, not to mention an occasional bit of mild amusement. Frankie and Maggie (Swank) slowly develop a father/daughter-type relationship and it’s touching. The third act, however, takes a left turn that is seriously downbeat. It departs from sports movie formula with a message that contradicts everything the first two acts pushed, which is inexplicable. Sure, I ‘get’ the point: A certain person basically sacrifices everything to do what’s (supposedly) best for the situation and honor the will of a dearly loved soul. Nevertheless, it’s a dark turn that leaves a sour taste because it refutes the positive message of the first two-thirds of the story. The film runs 2 hours, 12 minutes and was shot in Los Angeles. GRADE: B-/C+
r96sk2022-02-09
★ 10/10
Unreal! I didn't expect <em>'Million Dollar Baby'</em> to be so astonishingly brilliant. I've said it many a time before but for full context, I do not read up about films before watching them - aside from making sure the film isn't part of a franchise, checking the run time and seeing the genre - so I was expecting this to be a cliché-filled, but still great, sports flick. It's so much more than that. It's way more deeper and has an everlasting impact that I hadn't anticipated. Even across the opening chunk I was predicating the obvious cliché ending, but as the film progresses and, especially, as the final portion rolls around it just absorbed my total attention - I was fully engrossed... hook, line, and sinker. Some film! The cast are simply stunning. Clint Eastwood gives an absolutely fantastic performance, Hilary Swank is truly sensational - especially at the end, damn - and Morgan Freeman is Morgan Freeman; what an actor and what a voice, using him as narrator was a great move. Elsewhere, and though less dramatically, Jay Baruchel, Anthony Mackie, Margo Martindale and Michael Peña also feature interestingly. It's quite the journey the film takes you on, which I just found utterly enthralling to watch unfold. Perfect pacing, perfect acting. I loved watching every second of it and will undoubtedly be revisiting it. I noted days ago that I was rather surprised to learn that Eastwood's <em>'<a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/unforgiven/" rel="nofollow">Unforgiven</a>'</em> had been so heavily acclaimed, on this occasion with this 2004 film I am the complete opposite. I don't care much for awards et al., but I am delighted to see all involved receive their props for this. Chapeau! Marvellous, just marvellous.
The Movie Mob2022-11-23
★ 3/10
Million Dollar Baby is an extremely well-done film that takes an abrupt turn to deal with incredibly sobering subjects that are definitely not what I thought I signed up for. I know it’s supposedly a masterpiece, and I will lose some cred for saying this, but Million Dollar Baby was a dreadful movie. I spent the first half of the film falling in love with the hopeful, talented, and inspiring Maggie Fitzgerald and her redeeming of the cranky and lonely trainer, Frankie Dunn. But when the second half takes its giant turn, the story shifts from an endearing sports narrative about overcoming opposition and redemption to hopelessness and agony. Clint Eastwood directed a powerful story with impressive mastery, but the subject matter robbed the film of any enjoyment. For many, Million Dollar Baby deserved Best Picture at the Oscars. For me, I wish The Incredibles had claimed that victory.