THE BEST OF THE REST

film

Eternal Sunshine of

the Spotless Mind

A March release doomed this Charlie Kaufman/Michel Gondry gem to limited Oscar recognition (Kate Winslet for best Actress and Best Original Screenplay for Kaufman), but the film’s quirky brilliance paints a beautiful portrait of a relationship struggling agianst time and memory. Nonlinearity hasn’t been this smooth since Pulp Fiction.

actor

Peter Saarsgard

From the conflicted editor in Shattered Glass to Zach Braff’s slacker friend in Garden State to his most recent turn as a bisexual research assistant in Kinsey, Peter Saarsgard’s supporting roles never fail to steal scenes. Meanwhile, Saarsgard himself has been failing to attract notice from awards show voters. Like other great character actors who got small starts (William H. Macy, Paul Giamatti), hopefully Saarsgard will eventually get his breakout role. Till then, recess hopes a supporting actor Oscar is in the cards soon for this overlooked, understated superstar.

foreign

While it’s hard to argue with this year’s stellar Original Screenplay slate, Braff’s witty and heartfelt first foray into film definitely deserves recognition. Also working as the film’s director and lead actor, Braff has proven himself the illusive Hollywood triple threat, and some say, the successor to Woody Allen’s throne. recess says, “Bravo!”

documentary

Control Room

A big winner at last year’s Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, this revealing documentary takes an isider’s look at the Arab news network Al-Jazeera. Portraying a decidedly different network than that oft villified by the US government, Control Room seems to have fallen out of the public consciousness. Nonetheless, it’s a must-see.

This Baby’s worth all the hype

by Katie Somers

Judging from its trailer, Million Dollar Baby looks like a feel-good boxing picture about a redneck girl with a heart of a champion and the once-resistant coach who makes her a star. And for the first two-thirds of the movie, that's exactly what it is. The third act, however, takes a turn so stunning that the movie becomes an examination of something much bigger than a mere sport.

If the viewers are particularly observant, perhaps they would initially notice the dark lighting, the dreary set production and Morgan Freeman's somber voiceovers, and predict the dark things to come. And after watching Clint Eastwood's last directorial effort (the cheerless Mystic River), the audience should know that he's not exactly one to make cinematic fluff.

Although the first two-thirds of the movie seem a pleasant if unmemorable sport film. In the harrowing last third of the movie, the actors really hit their stride and make Million Dollar Baby the odds-on favorite for winning the Best Picture Oscar.

Hilary Swank plays Maggie Fitzgerald, a hard-luck, androgynous boxer with a deadbeat family. It's a role she's played before (The Next Karate Kid, Boys Don't Cry), but she does it well. Eastwood also steps in front of the camera to play Frankie Dunn, a stoic boxing coach and gym owner, a staunch Catholic who is guilt-ridden over a never-explained feud with his daughter. When he cries, so does the audience.

Morgan Freeman portrays the coach's best friend, a down and out former boxer who now lives in the gym. Eastwood's trusting, understated directing style serves the actors incredibly well: he steps out of these veteran performers' way to let them form a familial bond that feels authentic.

Eastwood deserves much praise for the delicate way he handles the relationship between Dunn and Fitzgerald. At one point toward the end of the film, he looks at her, and his tender love is clear. Their relationship never ventures toward the creepy or unseemly. His love for her is paternal—he's taken on the role of her dead father; she's a substitute for the daughter who won't speak to him.

Million Dollar Baby is not a movie about boxing, nor is it one about romantic love. This is a movie that will lull you into a false sense of security, and then deliver the heart-breaking knockout punch when you're least expecting it.