A Million Dollars of Power and Passion

I watched Million Dollar Baby and am still swallowing a bit hard. It's a great prep movie for the Ironman.

Tough ain't enough.
And the sign on the white painted brick wall of Hit Pit Gym:
Winners are willing to do what losers won't.

The mantra that Eastwood keeps repeating to his prodigy is "Always protect yourself." Don't let yourself get hurt. This is not easy to do in the boxing ring, or in the world. Once you step into it, some will bet money that you will fail.

I found the movie elicited a great deal of emotion. Because it inspires the fighting spirit, it inspires passion and the ability to brace once's spirit and strength against all the adversities that pile up against desire and ambition. It is about finding strength, and the characters in this film do generate strength, and juxtapose triumph beside tragedy in a way I last saw in Gladiator.

Life is also not without its ironies, both in terms of our faith in it, and in other people, and also the faith people place in ourselves. This movie reconstructs this beautifully.

This is a remarkably intelligent and poignant movie, and giving its setting and subject matter, this comes as a bracing and breathless suprise. Prepare to walk out of the cinema choking back tears. I did.