'Million Dollar' Cheap Twist

I have no grievance with any of the awards made at the Oscars Sunday night. They were all fairly predictable and no one film dominated in ways that has so often been the case, most recently last year. One winner Sunday spoke for all when he said, "I'm just glad there's no 'Lord of the Rings' sequel this year."

"Aviator" had the look and feel of the type of big film that could have taken it all, but after a string of wins early in the evening, it came up short. Outstanding nominees from the film, Leonardo DiCaprio nominated for Best Actor and Martin Scorcese for Best Director, were eclipsed by momentous performances from Jamie Foxx and Clint Eastwood.

Still, Leo established himself in "Aviator" as an adult actor with a long and successful career ahead of him. He beat the odds in making the rare transition from child actor to adult. In his rendering of Howard Hughes he achieved the mark of a great actor by disappearing into his character. In so doing, Leo showed that he has the potential of a Tom Hanks to achieve this with a wide variety of roles.

It's something that Clint Eastwood, for example, by the very nature of who he is, can't do. It still doesn't prevent him from being a very good actor, and especially from being an even better director.

As the hype for "Million Dollar Baby" grew going into the days before the Academy Awards ceremony, I found I was not the only person I knew who made it a point to see the film in just hours before the awards.

It did not disappoint. It had all the ingredients. Film lovers who went to see it because of its reputation but with an aversion to the violence of boxing conceded that they found themselves drawn in by the story, and cheering every roundhouse punch that Hilary Swank used to deck her foes.

The contrast of the Swank character's passion to escape her destiny to the image of that trailer park destiny portrayed in the film was stunning. The scene towards the end of the film of her family visiting her in the hospital was an all-time classic.

Morgan Freeman is steady and solid as an old Underwood upright typewriter. He always plays the same kind of gathered and wizened role, but it always seems appropriate. He's been a major asset to every film he's ever made.

But all that said, I have a substantial problem with "Million Dollar Baby," and it isn't based on political or religious ideology, but it does have to do with the ending.

For whatever reason, movie critics and commentators chose not to reveal the nature of the "sudden twist" that occurs in the film. This left viewers completely unprepared for the truly dark and tragic turn that takes place.

We're not talking about the kind of surprise twist that made the "I see dead people" movie famous, or that caught those seeing "The Crying Game" unfamiliar with the Adam's apple test off guard.

We're talking about a fascinating and inspiring film suddenly turning into a highly-charged and sympathetic portrayal of assisted suicide, plunging audiences like a runaway elevator into the middle of society's current raging political and moral debate on an excruciating and difficult subject that none of them knew in advance they were paying money to encounter.

I think that's unfair, and my protest does not have to do with a predisposed opinion about the subject in question. It may have something to do with the fact that I have been, personally, confronted by choices and circumstances not unlike those in the film more than once in the recent period. I'm a little raw from that, frankly, and if I'd known that this was where the film was headed, I definitely would have chosen not to see it. Many are in my shoes on that score, and many always are.

But, come on. An Oregon law on assisted suicide is now before the U.S. Supreme Court. Can you tell me that no one involved in the hasty, 37-day filming of this movie was indifferent to that fact?

I've learned that many organizations of persons with disabilities are protesting this film for the way in which it elevated the assisted suicide over other options, options which were not even considered in portraying the story. It helped drive home to me what I was thinking about the film. As darkness fell, the silhouetted images of the wheelchairs crossing in front of my vision was a powerful confirmation to me that despite the wonderful acting in "Million Dollar Baby," on balance, it used trickery to perform a major disservice, regardless of anyone's predisposed views.