Wow! I don’t know where to start with this movie. I absolutely loved it. It made me smile and it made me cry. Hilary Swank plays Maggie Fitzgerald, a tough young woman from the Missouri Ozarks who grows up thinking she is trash. She eventually ends up in a town where she works as a waitress in a diner and hopes to become a professional boxer. She meets Frankie Dunn (played by Clint Eastwood), a boxing trainer. Frankie has no interest in training a female boxer but Maggie will not give up because boxing is the only thing she’s ever done in her life that’s ever made her feel good about herself and her only hope of escaping a life of waiting tables forever. Scrap (played by Morgan Freeman) is a former boxer who works at the boxing gym Frankie owns and is a best friend to Frankie.

This movie has everything in it. There is the boxing element that is exciting. I actually learned a little bit about boxing. However, the movie is not about boxing. The movie is really about a boxer and the relationship between her and Frankie. And, no, this is not about a romantic relationship either. It’s more of a father daughter relationship that develops, which is what the two desperately need. Maggie needs somebody that cares for her and supports her and Frankie needs to care for somebody but is afraid to let anyone in his life and risk getting hurt. The characters all have been hurt either physically or mentally and are very vulnerable. I found myself on the edge of my seat most of the movie and on the verge of tears. Most of my tears weren’t necessarily from what happenened in the movie but instead from what I was afraid might happen. Yes, I know, I’m very emotional, but I was so caught up in the characters. They were so vulnerable and I loved them so much that I was worried that something bad would happen to Maggie, Frankie or Scrap.

Anyway, if you haven’t seen this movie you should see it right away. I haven’t seen every movie up for an Oscar this year, but I would love for this movie to sweep the Oscars. I think Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman all deserve Oscars.

Just let me warn you (since my husband failed to warn me), bring your tissues and if you wear mascara make it waterproof!