Million Dollar Baby (MDB) may be a favourite (influential movie critic Roger Ebert has only praises for the movie), but I don't want to feign sophistication and tell you how much I enjoy the movie and how bloody good it is. Personally, I don't think it's quite there alongside past Oscars laureates the like of A Beautiful Mind (which had me holding back tears), American Beauty (this one cracked me up with its dark humour), Gladiator (love the fighting scenes and story) and Schindler's List (nothing less than filmmaking at its best), just to name a few.

MDB is a classic story-driven film; it tells the tale of Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank) who has dreams of becoming a professional boxer. The characters are scripted in such a way that you get emotionally-attached to them; you share their joy (when Maggie scales the ranks in her budding boxing career) and woes (her subsequent "downfall") and you can't help but hate the antagonists (Maggie's mother and sister and one bitchy boxer).

Since acting is all about pretending, I have no idea what qualifies as a fail-proof measure of one's acting skills. I do know, however, that I was totally drawn towards Hilary Swank in her portrayal as Maggie. Swank may not be Alexis Bledel (for the uninitiated, I'm of the opinion that Alexis is one chun gal; not that you have to agree), but she commands the screen nontheless. The Oscar couldn't have been given to a finer actress.

The problem with the film is that it needs more edits. A few scenes could have been made shorter for better visual/emotional impact. The last 30 minutes or so especially needs trimming although it may be what the filmmaker regards as the required built-up for the ending. Speaking of which, the denouement is controversial but I won't spoil it for you. In case you haven't watched the film, read no further.

Personally, I do not have a definite stance when it comes to euthanasia. I guess it's something you have to judge on a case-by-case basis. In Maggie's case, her disability is devastating given the fact that boxing is perhaps the only thing she's good at. And she justifies it by saying that she has seen the world and lived life to the fullest. To her, death seems much more inviting than being bed-ridden and being in a constant, gratuitous struggle against physical suffering.

Of course, she could have taken a leaf out of Christopher Reeve's book. Paralysis spurred Reeve to greater heights rather than brought him to his knees. Consider the research into paralysis he had initiated and the number of people he had talked out of taking their own lives. Mr. Reeve was indeed a super man. After all, rising above perceived disabilities is a far more heroic thing to do.