If I'm being real honest and real petty, I dislike this Oscar win for the same reason I dislike Helen Hunt's.
Namely: KATE WINSLET SHOULD HAVE WON HER SECOND OSCAR IN 2004, FOLLOWING HER FIRST WIN IN 1997 FOR TITANIC, FOR ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND.*
You know why Million Dollar Baby was stuck in development hell for four years? Cause it insists upon itself. It hits every nail on the Oscar bait board. It struck the top of the Oscar bait tree and hit every branch on the way down. It takes about an hour to establish the relationship before Clint will agree to train Hilary and his only excuse is "I don't train girls" for that whole hour. Then there are several cool boxing sequences that shows off Hilary's training. Then there's a protracted sequence where she plays a paraplegic with a C1/C2 injury (meaning she can't even breathe without a ventilator) and the rest of the movie takes place with Hilary in a hospital bed, culminating in her biting off her tongue (that haunted me as a teenager, I'll tell ya that for free) and getting overdosed on adrenaline because Clint finally agrees, after another long scene of "I can't help you die" to do it in the end. (Not arguing against a person's right to die if they wind up in situations like this, just that her agency is taken away until the grizzled old man, the only person still close enough to her to visit regularly, aside from Morgan Freeman, who's character seems to haunt the corner of every scene in this film, even ones it doesn't make narrative sense for him to be in, decides that he can't watch her suffer any longer, after she's already tried to bite off her tongue twice).
At the end of the day, I will praise the performances of Hilary Swank, this garnered her the second of her two Oscars, and Morgan Freeman, who finally(!) won an Oscar as well. And If I'm still being honest I can admit that Clint Eastwood is a better director than an actor (unlike Robert Redford, who rocked both).
It's another chameleonic performance from Hilary, too. She gained 19 pounds of muscle from five-hour daily training sessions and also developed a staph infection in her foot that could have been fatal (Girl!) and never told Clint while they were filming because she figured her character would keep it from Clint's. After the complete opposite transformation to play Brandon Teena in Boys Don't Cry, you can't argue that she's not committed to wholly engaging in her roles. I hope she puts those Oscars somewhere you can't not see them when you're in her house.
I wish that Hilary Swank hadn't faded away in the decades since Million Dollar Baby. She's such a talented, committed actress that I think she could be doing absolutely wild things on the big screen, Ã la Nicole Kidman working with women directors and committing to kooky roles. She's currently on Yellowjackets, and boy did I love it when she showed up!
Also, something else I won't do in this post? Criticize Hilary Swank's absolutely stunning Guy Laroche gown. Ma'am. Cartoon wolf with his eyes popping out and back into his head. Respectfully.
Hilary was nominated against Annette Bening (Being Julia), Catalina Sandino Moreno (Maria Full of Grace), Imelda Staunton (Vera Drake), and Kate Winslet (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind).
I remember at the time that there was so much conversation about how Hilary and Annette would be going head-to-head again, like they had when they were up for Boys Don't Cry and American Beauty. I also remember that Kate Winslet exists and that she should have a trunk of Oscars. My vote would have gone to her.
DID I LIKE MILLION DOLLAR BABY? No.
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Did you like Million Dollar Baby? What are your thoughts on Hilary Swank's second Oscar win?
Keep up with all my Rewatching the Best Actresses posts here.
*Another reason to love Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind? It inspired Ariana Grande's best album: Eternal Sunshine. (Go play 'Supernatural' and thank me later.)
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