Nobody puts Baby in a corner.

Can't jump on the Million Dollar Baby bandwagon, y'all. Don't get me wrong, it's a fine and well-crafted film, with a nice turn from Hillary Swank and some good boxing sequences. But... well, I just can't get on board with those last forty or so minutes. Oh and aren't we all tired of Morgan Freeman as the wise, levelheaded narrator/voice of reason? Good God, I am.
Which reminds me, I was reading David Thomson's New Biographical Dictionary of Film over the weekend and happened upon his Frank Darabont entry. I was looking for an excuse to reprint an excerpt of it in all its delicious snarkiness. Morgan Freeman in yet another role as the sage/voice of reason seems like a valid excuse.

"Of course, Shawshank won many awards and nominations, and among the young it often passes for a profound piece of humanism. Times are hard."