Frankie Dunn (Eastwood) is a boxing trainer/manager who carries a lot of weight on his shoulders. He's estranged from his daughter and, with the exception of the injured Scrap (Freeman), his fighters don't hang around very long. Into his life walks Maggie (Swank), an extremely determined woman who desperately desires to be a competitive boxer. She asks Frankie to train her, and he initially refuses, however he eventually sways and a relationship develops that is beneficial to both.

It seems that Clint Eastwood is just getting better as a filmmaker in his later years. Million Dollar Baby is his follow-up to the hugely acclaimed Mystic River of last year... and has been receiving similar praise. Like Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby is largely a character piece; definitely focusing more on the characters than boxing and action.

Million Dollar Baby is tipped to be nominated for quite a few Academy Awards this year (well, you probably know by now), especially Morgan Freeman as the retired boxer who lives in Frankie's gym. Have a look around, I dare you to find many bad reviews of Million Dollar Baby. Rottentomatoes.com gives it 95%... so there are a couple, but they are definitely the exception.