Producers: Clint Eastwood, Albert S. Ruddy and Tom Rosenberg
Previous Best Film wins: National Society of Film Critics; Seattle Film Critics
The story: Painfully estranged from his daughter, old-school boxing trainer Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood) hasn’t let anyone get too close to him in a very long time. Even his best friend and former trainee Scrap (Morgan Freeman), who manages Frankie’s rundown boxing gym, has a tough time getting through. Everything changes, however, when Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank) walks into the gym. A spitfire looking for someone to believe in her, Maggie also has a painful past. But with unshakable willpower, along with some tremendous raw talent, Maggie has found that her love for boxing could be her ticket to a happy life–and she wants Frankie to turn her into a champion. Naturally, he doesn’t want to have anything to do with her and doesn’t want to take that risk, especially with a girl. Yet, Frankie is soon won over by the young boxer’s dogged resolve to be the best. The road to glory isn’t easily paved for these two stubborn mules, but Maggie and Frankie rediscover a sense of family they both thought they’d lost long ago. Theirs is a bond that will carry them through one of the hardest journeys either one of them will ever take.
