Guide Note

Clint Eastwood directed and stars in Million Dollar Baby, playing a boxing trainer who takes a chance on an ambitious young female fighter. The film won four 2005 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Eastwood's second Oscar for Best Director. (He had previously won in 1992 for Unforgiven).

Fast Facts

1. Released: December 17, 2004
2. Starring: Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman and Clint Eastwood
3. Director: Clint Eastwood
4. Screenwriter: Paul Haggis
5. Adapted from stories by F.X. Toole
6. Budget: $30 million

The stories that inspired Million Dollar Baby were taken from the book Rope Burns by F.X. Toole, the pseudonym of long-time boxing manager Jerry Boyd.

Paul Haggis, who himself would write and direct the following year's Best Picture winner, Crash, adapted Toole's stories into a screenplay. Even after Clint Eastwood had expressed interest in making the film, he found it hard to get funding for Million Dollar Baby, eventually finding a home for the project at Warner Bros..

The film was warmly received by critics, particularly Roger Ebert, who heralded it the Best Film of 2004. There was some controversy of Ebert's review, as well as those of some other critics, which many felt gave away too much information about the film's controversial conclusion.

The film appeared on numerous Best of the Year lists and won a number of awards from critics. Star Hilary Swank and Eastwood took home Golden Globes for Best Actress and Director, respectively, and the film won 4 Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (for Swank) and Best Supporting Actor (for Morgan Freeman).