Next up in our Guess the Connection series: Clint Eastwood’s 2004 boxing drama “Million Dollar Baby." For those of you who have yet to see “Million Dollar Baby,” you probably should just stop reading this and go watch the movie. Even though the movie is nearly 11 years old now, it’s still hard to talk about without going into detail about the change in story direction in the third act. That was a divisive problem at the time of the movie’s release, and while it shouldn’t be a problem now, it feels like it is. But we jump into all kinds of spoilers in our show this week. Join us — Pete Wright and Andy Nelson — as we continue our mysterious Guess the Connection series with Eastwood’s 2004 film “Million Dollar Baby.” First off, it’s not a boxing movie like “Rocky” is a boxing movie, and we talk at length about that, really looking at the direction this screenplay takes you. This is a boxing drama — a story about characters who happen to inhabit the world of boxing. We chat about the ninja-level script by Paul Haggis based on F.X. Toole’s book and how it works outside of the confines of the standard structure expected in Hollywood screenplays. We discuss the brilliant performances all the way through from Eastwood to Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman, as well as the supporting players like Jay Baruchel, Anthony Mackie and Margo Martingale. It’s a powerful film that hits its mark every time, so watch the movie then tune in! Hey! You know what would be awesome? If you would drop us a positive rating on iTunes! If you like what we’re doing here on TNR, it really is the best way to make sure that this show appears when others search for it, plus, it’s just a nice thing to do. Thanks!!

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Million Dollar Baby • The Next Reel