History Film / MillionDollarBaby

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler:It wasn't clear if Billie was punished for permanently injuring Maggie.]]

** When she starts winning big purses, Maggie buys her mother a house. ''A house.'' She berates Maggie for not giving her cash instead. If she's a homeowner, you see, she won't qualify for welfare anymore and she doesn't want to work. [[spoiler:Toward the end, we find out she never signed the ownership transfer paperwork even though she's living in the house, and it's a major plot point that Maggie still owns the house.]]

%%* BraidsOfAction: Maggie and most of the other female boxers.

%%* CasualtyInTheRing:
%%** Eddie [[EyeScream lost the eyesight in one of his eyes]] years ago.
%%** [[spoiler: And Maggie becomes a quadraplegic.]]

%%* CoolOldGuy: Creator/ClintEastwood and Creator/MorganFreeman. Need I say more?
%%* CorruptHick: Margaret "Maggie" Fitzgerald's family, who hail from the Ozarks. They care little about Maggie's well-being, and will cheerfully cross the MoralEventHorizon just to get her money. Maggie herself is a DefectorFromDecadence.

%%* TheHeroDies: [[spoiler:Maggie herself at the end.]]

%%* KillTheOnesYouLove: [[spoiler:Makes use of ChekhovsSkill as Frankie uses his expert knowledge of adrenaline to do the deed.]]

%%* PrecisionFStrike:
%%-->'''Frankie Dunn:''' So is Jesus a Demigod?
%%-->'''Father Horvak:''' There are no Demigods, you fucking Pagan!

%%* SickeningCrunch: [[spoiler:When Maggie breaks her neck on the corner stool.]]

%%* WhamLine: [[spoiler:When Maggie asks Franie to let her die.]]
%%-->'''Maggie''': You remember what my Daddy did for Axle?

* TongueSucide: [[spoiler:After she's paralyzed, Maggie tries to commit suicide by [[TongueTrauma biting through her tongue.]]]]

* TongueTrauma: [[spoiler:After she's paralyzed, Maggie tries to commit suicide by biting through her tongue.]]

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:Downplayed: It's not shown that Billie the Blue Bear was disqualified, but the referee was getting annoyed with her constant breaking of the rules, and even threatened to disqualify her once. Bille was probably disqualified immediately once the doctors realized the injuries she had inflicted on Maggie after ''intentionally punching her between rounds''.]]

%%* DownerEnding: And a controversial one at that.

* RuleOfDrama: As powerful as they are, [[spoiler:the hospital scenes]] are a tad unrealistic. In RealLife, [[spoiler: hospitalized patients have every right to decline treatment. If they're attached to a breathing machine against their will, they don't have to attempt suicide or beg friends to euthanize them. They can just ask doctors to turn off their respirator. And no hospital would ever keep a patient sedated 24/7 just to stop them from committing suicide--they would more likely get them psychiatric counseling or put them on anti-depressants]].

* CareerEndingInjury: Eddie had one at his 109th fight, losing one of his eyes. [[spoiler:Maggie takes a hit and falls onto a stool which breaks her spine and leaves her paralyzed from the neck down.]]

** There are a lot of quick close-ups on the stool that Eastwood puts in the ring after each round leading up to [[spoiler:Maggie falling on it and breaking her spine]].

* AbusiveParents: Maggie's mother is a sociopathic redneck idiot.

* ArcWords: "Mo chuisle". Maggie doesn't find out what they mean until the end of the movie.
* ArtisticLicenseSports: During the title bout, the Blue Bear commits several fouls that would result in immediate automatic disqualification in a real boxing match, but only receives warnings and/or point deductions for them. This was parodied by, of all things, ''Film/ScaryMovie4''.

* BadassGrandpa: Morgan Freeman's character, particularly when he [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome single-handedly KOs]] an upstart JerkAss boxer.
* BraidsOfAction: Maggie and most of the other female boxers.
* BreakTheCutie: Poor, poor Danger Barch.
* TheBully: Like Eddie discover, Berry is this to poor Danger.

* CareerEndingInjury: Eddie had one at his 109th fight, losing one of his eyes. [[spoiler: Maggie takes a hit and falls onto a stool which breaks her spine and leaves her paralyzed from the neck down.]]
* CasualtyInTheRing: Eddie [[EyeScream lost the eyesight in one of his eyes]] years ago.
** [[spoiler: And Maggie becomes a quadraplegic.]]

** There are a ''lot'' of quick close-ups on the stool that Eastwood puts in the ring after each round.
* {{Chiaroscuro}}: Used all over the place for dramatic effect.
* CoolOldGuy: Creator/ClintEastwood and Creator/MorganFreeman. Need I say more?
* CorruptHick: Margaret "Maggie" Fitzgerald's family, who hail from the Ozarks. They care little about Maggie's well-being, and will cheerfully cross the MoralEventHorizon just to get her money. Maggie herself is a DefectorFromDecadence.
* CynicalMentor: Frankie Dunn.
* DeadpanSnarker: All three lead characters love to exchange sarcastic remarks.

* DisappearedDad: Maggie's father, who died long before she started her boxing career.
* DownerEnding: And a controversial one at that.

* EtTuBrute: Willie Little abandoning Frankie early in the film after years of working with him for the chance to become rich and famous.
* AFatherToHisMen: Frankie does far more to those he trains than just teaching them how to box; helping Willie Little dealing with a car dealer and Maggie with her family [[spoiler:and injury]].
* FirstPersonPeripheralNarrator: Eddie. He spends his days as a glorified janitor and occasional trainer assistant.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: [[spoiler:One of these days, that East German boxer is going to kill someone.]] For more, see above for on ChekhovsGun.
* GenreShift: Starts as sports movie about a woman trying to improve her life by becoming a boxer and ends [[spoiler: as a massive TearJerker about assisted suicide]].
* GutPunch: Or in this specific case, [[spoiler: a sucker punch from behind, which triggered the GenreShift]].
* TheHeroDies: [[spoiler:Maggie herself at the end.]]
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Frankie and Eddie.

* InspirationallyDisabled: Danger has shades of this.
* IHaveNoSon: Inverted, in the end, Maggie disowns her family after being the pieces of shit they are.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Frankie.

* KillTheOnesYouLove: [[spoiler:Makes use of ChekhovsSkill as Frankie uses his expert knowledge of adrenaline to do the deed.]]

* OpposingSportsTeam: Not a team, but Billie the Blue Bear otherwise fits the trope with her intimidating aura and willingness to break the rules.

* ParentalSubstitute: Frankie, for Maggie.
* PoliticallyIncorrectHero: Frankie makes some mildly sexist comments and initially refuses to do anything to help Maggie, though his opinion of her changes as the movie goes along. [[spoiler:Helping Maggie kill herself after she is paralyzed]] also at least partially counts for this.
* PrecisionFStrike:
-->'''Frankie Dunn:''' So is Jesus a Demigod?
-->'''Father Horvak:''' There are no Demigods, you fucking Pagan!
* RetiredBadass: Eddie's one, as Shawrelle finds out.

* ShootTheDog: Maggie relates a story about her father euthanizing her family's crippled dog.
** [[spoiler:And Frankie later does the same thing for Maggie.]]
* SickeningCrunch: [[spoiler:When Maggie breaks her neck on the corner stool.]]

* ThereAreNoTherapists: [[spoiler: Towards the end, Maggie becomes so despondent that she attempts suicide by biting her tongue and begs Frankie to pull the plug on her. The hospital's first reaction is to keep her sedated 24/7 so she can't attempt suicide--instead of getting her the psychiatric help that she obviously needs.]]
* TongueTrauma: [[spoiler: After she's paralyzed, Maggie tries to commit suicide by biting through her tongue.]]
* TrainingMontage: Maggie gets one, though minus the cheesy music.

* WhamLine: [[spoiler:When Maggie asks Franie to let her die.]]
-->'''Maggie''': You remember what my Daddy did for Axle?
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler: It wasn't clear if Billie was punished for permanently injuring Maggie.]]
* WhatMightHaveBeen: Creator/MorganFreeman originally auditioned for the role of Frankie before being cast as Eddie. Also, screenwriter/producer Paul Haggis wanted to direct this himself, but scheduling conflicts with ''Film/{{Crash}}'' forced him to hand the project to Clint.
* WordSaladTitle: Million what-what? It makes more sense when you see the film, but you still wonder surely there must have been a better name for it.

** Likely a subversion, Frankie clearly wants to believe that the doctors are incompetent because [[spoiler: they can't fix Maggie's spine. He eventually has to accept that she's just too badly injured to be fixed.]]

Margaret Fitzerald (Creator/HilarySwank) is a down-and-out waitress striving for a better life. So she does what all down-and-out waitress do to help herself out - she learns how to box. The first portion of the movie deals with Margaret training herself at the Hit Pit trying to get Frankie Dunn (Creator/ClintEastwood) to train her into becoming a credible boxer. She eventually succeeds and is able to get Frankie and another trainer and former boxer Eddie Dupris (Creator/MorganFreeman) to warm up to her.

* TheOneWhoMadeItOut: Maggie's lucrative boxing career enables her to escape life with her hick family, run by a welfare queen who makes no effort to improve her lot and is interested only in getting Maggie's newfound fortune. [[spoiler:Even when she becomes a quadriplegic and her family visits to try to get title to her assets, Maggie is able to kick them out because she still owns their house and can sell it anytime she wants.]]

* TheOneWhoMadeItOut: Maggie's lucrative boxing career enables her to escape life with her hick family, run by a welfare queen who makes no effort to improve her lot and is interested only in getting Maggie's newfound fortune. [[spoiler:Even when she becomes a quadriplegic and her family visits to try to get title to her assets, Maggie is able to kick them out and threaten to sell the house she bought for them if they come back.]]

* BuryYourDisabled: [[spoiler:Type 4, in which Frankie finally kills Maggie after she begs him to end her suffering,]] not a case of UnfortunateImplications; it was deliberate.

* CareerEndingInjury: Eddie had one at his 109th fight, losing one of his eyes. [[spoiler: Maggie takes a hit and falls onto a stool which breaks her spine and leaves her paralyzed.]]

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:Downplayed: It's not shown that Billie the Blue Bear was disqualified, but the referee was getting annoyed with her constant breaking of the rules, and even threatened to disqualify her once. Bille was probably disqualified immediately once the doctors realized the injuries she had inflicted on Maggie after ''intentionally punching her while the stool was in the way''.]]

* BuryYourDisabled: [[spoiler:Type 4, in which Frankie finally kills Maggie after she begs him to end her suffering]] not a case of UnfortunateImplications; it was deliberate.

* BuryYourDisabled: [[spoiler:Maggie is a Type 3, begging Frankie to end her suffering]] not a case of UnfortunateImplications; it was deliberate.

* CoolOldGuy: Creator/ClintEastwood and MorganFreeman. Need I say more?

* WhatMightHaveBeen: MorganFreeman originally auditioned for the role of Frankie before being cast as Eddie. Also, screenwriter/producer Paul Haggis wanted to direct this himself, but scheduling conflicts with ''Film/{{Crash}}'' forced him to hand the project to Clint.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: [[spoiler:One of these days, that East German boxer is going to kill someone.]] For more, see above for [[ChekhovsGun Chekhov's Anecdote]].

* [[spoiler:KillTheOnesYouLove: Makes use of ChekhovsSkill as Frankie uses his expert knowledge of adrenaline to do the deed.]]

* PoliticallyIncorrectHero: Frankie makes some mildly sexist comments and initially refuses to do anything to help Maggie, though his opinion of her changes as the movie goes along.
** [[spoiler:Helping Maggie kill herself after she is paralyzed]] also at least partially counts for this.

* ArtisticLicenseSports: During the title bout, the Blue Bear commits several fouls that would result in immediate automatic disqualification in a real boxing match, but only receives warnings and/or point deductions for them. This was parodied by, of all things, ''ScaryMovie 4''.