Million Dollar Baby

MILLION DOLLAR BABY worked, from beginning to end. Where some saw a hodgepodge of cliches, I saw the assured hand of a master filmmaker paring a genre down to its core elements, then working those elements to create a simple, yet effective picture. It's hard to believe MILLION DOLLAR BABY is from the same guy who made BLOODWORK.

One friend of mine took issue with the portrayal of Swank's white trash family, seeing it as a cheap shot at the demographic America loves to hate (or at least mock): hillbillies. I found the characterization to be effective and wholly realistic. I've spent a little time around that particular demographic, and I thought it was refreshing to see characterizations that spoke more to my personal experience than to the standard Hollywood dictum that poverty = saintliness.

Regardless, I thought that MILLION DOLLAR BABY was an effective motion picture. Its fight scenes were far more exciting than those in the last three ROCKY movies, and they knock out UNDISPUTED in the first round. The leads were all interesting and engaging, and I was happy to follow them on their journey.

There's a fair amount of hate for MILLION DOLLAR BABY out there, but not from me. I think it's a winner.

Undisputed

I knew, going in, that UNDISPUTED was no masterpiece. It was billed as a B-movie, a straight-up shot of testosterone featuring Ving Rhames and Wesley Snipes squaring off in a boxing ring. Hey, I like B-movies, and I'll champion BLOODSPORT well into my dotage. UNDISPUTED seemed like just the thing for a late night with my old college roommate, a couple of beers, and a bag of chips.

Unfortunately, UNDISPUTED is an abject failure. Snipes's character, supposedly the epitome of Zen cool, only made me wonder why he wore that silly hat. Rhames, for his part, does a wonderful acting job, completely divesting himself of his natural charisma. The movie itself feels clunky and leaden, providing us with unnecessary flashbacks and interruptions, and culminating in a final bout that's partially obscured by the bars and barbed wire of the cage in which it's fought. I mean, really - who makes a boxing movie, then obscures half Big Fight's action?

If you're looking for a mindless, B-grade fight movie to watch with your buddies, rent BLOODSPORT again. UNDISPUTED is not your movie.