crusty ole clint

following up from HERE

for a person that's made a career out of playing tough guys in dirty harry and countless spaghetti westerns, actor-turned-director clint eastwood has quite a well developed sensitive side...i am rather surprised at this, to say the least...over the weekend, i watched 2 of this recent movies, namely MILLION DOLLAR BABY (co-starring hilary swank and morgan freeman) and FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS (starring ryan philippe, adam beach and jesse bradford)...


watched FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS in the movies on friday night...this retelling of the happenings on iwo jima during the turning of the tide of the pacific war, it is emotionally stirring in some places, eye-opening in others, and a well-told story all the way through...it nixes cheap sensationalism to cut to the core of war's grisly realities...an astute study of the futility of war, the hyprocrisy of governments and the emptiness behind the label of "hero"...for me, the 2 standouts were jesse bradford as rene gagnon and adam beach as "chief" ira hayes...bradford's character is more subtle in its various shades as the soldier using his fame to get out of the warzone into the rear echelon whereas beach's american indian suffers through his disinclination to be labelled as a hero of the war when all he did was be in the right place at the wrong time, ultimately leading to his disillusionment with the hypocrisy of the bond drive...the startlingly casual racism in american of that age is also clearly defined and starkly shown, sad to say...well, overall i'd give it a 7.5 outta 10...it's not a feelgood rah rah type of movie but something much more pointed and thought-provoking...


MILLION DOLLAR BABY's a small movie with a very personal feel to it...in turns heart-warming and then heart-wrenching, both clint and hilary turn in rather spectacular performances...he as the gruff trainer frankie and she as the aspiring up and comer boxer maggie...what appears to be merely a boxing movie is actually a very intimate and tragic study on dealing with guilt, responsibility for risk and personal drive...very much driven not by the boxing action but the human drama itself...i was quite blown away by the subtle nuances and the deft touch shown by the actors' portrayal...7.5 outta 10 for me too...