[stevem]

(That Oscar may have been a payoff for Robbins' years of leftwing political agitation.) Mystic River, a murder mystery set in Boston, was good, but not as good as its press. Its script, by the usually top-notch Brian Helgeland, was full of red herrings, and contained a scene involving the suspect (Tim Robbins) that, taken in isolation was great, but which contradicted everything else we were shown about the character. Typical for Eastwood's movies, however, the acting was uniformly excellent.

I have seen many of the movies cited in this review. Beyond Million Dollar Baby let me mention one. Mystic River was, I thought, interminable. I thought Robbins did a decent job in it. Sean Penn proved for the latest of a long line of parts that he doesn't know the first thing about acting, but he is quite the emoter. He also proved he can inhale fiercely through his nasal pasages. That's about it.

I thought Million Dollar Baby was well worth the time and money. It didn't make me cry. I didn't walk away feeling any better about euthanasia or anything close to it.

I went to it because my wife and daughtter wanted to see it. I normally don't care for boxing movies and never made it past about Rocky XXII or something like that. Female boxers do even less for me. I thoroughly planned to hate the movie.

Morgan Freeman was superb, as always. Clint Eastwood was also superb as a multi demensional character. I even liked the Hilary Swank character. I went to the movie planning to hate it and came away recommending it.

[stevem]

I went to it because my wife and daughtter wanted to see it...

My wife came away ambivalent and my daughter hated it.

[mrustow]

I think Eastwood may have gotten too much credit for Mystic River, due to his reputation, and the lack of serious, non-FX-dominated dramas that year.

If these yahoos get Eastwood some free publicity, maybe it will generate more interest and ticket sales. Then will their agitations have had some value, in spite of themselves.

[Richard Kimball]

You've gotta see Rocky III. It was the best Rocky since Rocky I. Except for maybe Rocky II.