Critic Reviews

Million Dollar Baby (2004) Rank 2 Reviews

Expert Review Summary

Movie critics combined give Million Dollar Baby (2004) a score of 3.5365 out of 4

based on (274) reviews

Click on the numbers to the right of the graph to see reviews of that rating

Excellent

(200)

Very Good

(57)

Good

(13)

Fair

(3)

Poor

(1)

Reviews by Score:

filethirteen.com

It's hard to believe that this standard, typical, tired boxing film has won so many accolades for its director, screenwriter and actors. There's nothing particularly new and interesting going on here and its only via the sheer star power of Clint ...read the complete Million Dollar Baby movie review at filethirteen.com

Cinepassion

Raging Bull will always have a spot in my all-time list, but I usually distrust boxing movies because, as with war movies, the camera has a tendency to turn human suffering into kinetic excitement even as it professes to deplore all the savagery. Not ...read the complete Million Dollar Baby movie review at Cinepassion

Tiscali UK

Million Dollar Baby cries out for Oscar recognition. Three Oscar winners (among them two bona fide legends) in a story of triumph against all the odds involving struggle, the will to succeed and personal redemption. Many American critics have already ...read the complete Million Dollar Baby movie review at Tiscali UK

Images (Gary Johnson)

I missed the movie on its original round of screenings in December. I had to wait until a January screening. By this time, the accolades had already started rolling in from far and wide, including awards for best picture, best director, and best actress ...read the complete Million Dollar Baby movie review at Images (Gary Johnson)

World Socialist Web Site

His direction of actors varies wildly. Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Marcia Gay Harden and the rest in Mystic River gave poor, thoroughly misguided performances in a muddy, misanthropic work. Swank, a gifted performer, is more effective here because the ...read the complete Million Dollar Baby movie review at World Socialist Web Site

dvdfuture.com (Randy Spiros)

I know I've been writng about how 2004 had been one of the worst years I can remember for movies and some other critics have been saying much the same thing. A good example of this is a small picture like "Sideways" being showered with accolades, ...read the complete Million Dollar Baby movie review at dvdfuture.com (Randy Spiros)

The KO Picture Show

Even being an avowed Clint Eastwood fan, I was wary of this movie. It stems from my feelings about Clint's previous "critically acclaimed" directorial effort, "Mystic River". I can't lie... I couldn't stand that movie. Aside from what I felt were ...read the complete Million Dollar Baby movie review at The KO Picture Show

Filmtracks (Christian Clemmensen)

For those who have heard Eastwood's music for Mystic River, then be aware that Million Dollar Baby is a step back from the instrumental usage of that score. For this new project, Eastwood relies on 25 musicians (23 string, one piano, ...read the complete Million Dollar Baby movie review at Filmtracks (Christian Clemmensen)

State of the Arts (Emrys Hughes)

There are no huge surprises on the surface - you know from the moment she walks on screen that Maggie Fitzgerald (Swank) is going to be the one to punch her way out of poverty, as someone must in every boxing movie. ...read the complete Million Dollar Baby movie review at State of the Arts (Emrys Hughes)

ninth symphony films

After depressing the movie-going public with the harsh 2003 film, Mystic River, Clint Eastwood steps further into the darkness with his latest difficult cinematic offering, the boxing drama Million Dollar Baby. As was the case in Mystic, the lead ...read the complete Million Dollar Baby movie review at ninth symphony films

Parent Previews

Rather the movie is carefully crafted to justify the option of euthanasia and doesn't acknowledge the unavoidable consequences of this choice. In addition to these ethical dilemmas, families will find graphic depictions of other boxing injuries, ...read the complete Million Dollar Baby movie review at Parent Previews

CineScene.com (Shari L. Rosenblum)

There is a little bit of poetry to the hodgepodge of clichÃ©s that is Million Dollar Baby, Clint Eastwood's tale of an over-the-hill trainer who takes on a girl fighter against his better instincts, but nearly all of it feels lifted from Frank ...read the complete Million Dollar Baby movie review at CineScene.com (Shari L. Rosenblum)

Salon (Charles Taylor)

At least when Burgess Meredith did this stuff in the "Rocky" movies he had the good hammy sense to treat it like the hokum it was. "Million Dollar Baby" is a piece of ham intended for those who keep kosher. Its dried-out, humorless achieved ...read the complete Million Dollar Baby movie review at Salon (Charles Taylor)

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