Title: Million Dollar Baby

Producer: Clint Eastwood

Actors: Clint Eastwood, Hillary Swank, Morgan Freeman

Length: 137 minutes

Language: English

This year’s Oscar-winning film for best picture, Million Dollar Baby, is a vision of trinity—three overlying stories; three powerful, interconnecting characters; three heart wrenching, controversial themes. Upon seeing this movie, three strong points become glaringly clear: that this film most deservedly won its Oscar; that it cleverly uses the violent sport of boxing to explore common themes of faith, life, and death; and that although the concept and crucial ending of the film are not conducive to the Islamic faith, the human struggles it presents are a universal part of humanity.

The latter point must be reiterated first. So much of this film is not proper by Islamic standards—it takes female boxers into the ring for bloody, flesh-filled fights, and it features vulgar, locker room jokes. But most of all, its controversial take on euthanasia is diametrically opposed to Muslim thought.

It has its other cinematic flaws as well. Some of the subplots (including the sweet-natured comedic relief story of “nerd” wannabe boxer “Danger”) are dismissible. Also many of the minor characters are two-dimensional, especially the “white trash” family of boxer-protagonist Maggie Fitzgerald. (Could they be any more dastardly and hillbillyish?) But if you can temporarily ignore those obtrusive flaws, the relationships developed in the film aptly build upon the themes of redemption, guilt, remorse, loyalty, love, death, and quality of life. The nuanced performances of Hillary Swank (Maggie, the fighter), director-producer Clint Eastwood (Frankie, the trainer) and Morgan Freeman (Scrap, the gym manager) are not to be missed. This is acting at its finest.

In essence, the film is the simple story of a scrappy, luckless girl who wants to become a serious boxer. She persuades an aging, world-class trainer to reluctantly take her on. Maggie grows on Frankie, and she uses her persistence and polite manners to eventually win him over into training her. They end up developing a profound, platonic, loving relationship. Scrap watches over them both, gently prodding the relationship along, knowing that the two need each other to win in life.

The fight scenes are mercifully short and treated as background material. What’s more important here is the father-daughter relationship that blossoms between Maggie and Frankie. Here, stripped to its barest, is a pure vision of daughterly respect and fatherly love, guidance, and protection. Sure they’re sparring over boxing tactics, but their real rapport builds from a girl needing a father figure and a man wanting to give just that.

Those qualities, preached by all faiths, regarding the child-parent relationship are all honored here: respect, love, loyalty, support, and endless care until the bitter end.

Indeed it is a treat to watch the scenes between Swank and Eastwood, who particularly builds upon his usually curmudgeonly acting style to let real emotion peek through. His face is as cragged and impassive as ever, but his eyes are brimming for Swank’s Maggie.

And so there is a woman’s struggle to make something of her life, to pull herself out of despair (OK, so she turns to boxing to do so). Then there’s the emphasis on familial and friendship ties as represented by the trio of Maggie, Frankie, and Scrap. And finally we’re treated to an abrupt turn in the story when Maggie suffers a horrible accident in her championship fight and ends up paralyzed and seeking an end to her life. This is where the film becomes a study in assisted suicide—the third and final theme.

Faced with an immobile life and deteriorating health, Maggie pleads with Frankie to help her die while her memories of being a strong, healthy boxer beloved by all are fresh in her mind. The religious stand (shared by all three major faiths) on euthanasia is clearly represented in Frankie’s priest, who tells him that it’s a major sin, a definite “no,” no matter how dreadful and wrenching the situation is.

Although Frankie’s ultimate decision flies in the face of the advice he’s given, his struggle to make that decision serves as a sober example of what many people face when their quality of life deteriorates. How many heroic measures should physicians take to prolong a patient’s life? How can you cope when you feel you’re too sick to go on? How should families deal with seeing a loved one hanging onto life with the help of machines?

Maggie and Frankie’s decision flies in the face of God being the ultimate decider of our fate. But the situation that brings them to that critical junction is what sets Million Dollar Baby apart from the usual ragtag bunch of movies now featured in theaters across the US.

Million Dollar Baby is showing in theaters across the world. Check your local listings for more details.