America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM...

Chapter 260, Page 259: Rather than lingering on, burn brightly.

Chapter 260, 259. Rather than lingering on, burn brightly.

At the Arc Light Cinema, as the lights went out, films such as "Million Dollar Baby," "The Polar Express," and "The Casanova" began to play simultaneously.

Tonight's main event is clearly the battle between MGM and Warner Bros., but Paramount, Universal, and other companies are also showing their own movies.

However, these are generally not A-list productions, because the current market environment does not allow three A-list productions to be released and compete on the same day.

While Disney and Warner Bros. were eager to take down MGM, weaker companies like Paramount, Fox, and Universal had to consider their own revenue.

So their current strategy is to release a blockbuster every week to annihilate MGM. This week it's The Polar Express, next week it's Fox's disaster blockbuster The Day After Tomorrow, and the week after that it's Universal's sci-fi action blockbuster Riddick.

I'll release a big-budget film every week to compete with you, and the audience will naturally choose the newer, more exciting films. Three weeks is enough to kill off MGM's films, not to mention that "Million Dollar Baby" only cost $3000 million.

From the perspectives of investment, publicity, cast, and genre, sports-themed movies have no reason to win, not even with the support of a veteran like Clint Eastwood.

Even if you're awesome, you're still an old guy. Nowadays, the majority of moviegoers are young people, and true movie lovers are a minority. Most viewers just go with the flow. They didn't experience the era of Westerns, so they're not fans of an old man like you.

Morgan Freeman and Hilary Swank?

Haha, how many young people can be attracted to the movie theater by a perennial supporting actor and a female star who has good acting skills but is not particularly beautiful?

"We will definitely win!"

To Eric's right, Nicole squeezed his hand and whispered.

"Of course we'll win!"

嗷.

After the lion's roar, the movie officially began.

As a sports-themed film, "Million Dollar Baby" has a simple plot, but it is profound enough and breaks away from the traditional formula of commercial films.

"People like violence!"

"When they pass by a car accident scene, they slow down to look at the bodies."

"This group likes violence, and they also claim to like boxing."

"But they have absolutely no idea what real boxing is!"

"It's about human dignity; you win your own dignity while stripping your opponent of theirs."

The film opens with Morgan Freeman's somber narration, followed by an overhead shot showing a fierce fight taking place in the boxing ring.

Finally, when he finished reciting the last sentence, the competition was decided.

Morgan Freeman has a nickname: he is known as the man with the voice closest to God, so many movies like to have him narrate the voice, or even play God directly.

This match showcased the extensive coaching experience of Frankie Dunn, the protagonist played by Clint Eastwood, who played a crucial role in his apprentice's victory.

After the match, Maggie, the female lead played by Hilary Swank, also appeared. She is a 31-year-old woman.

She started working at the age of 13 and is still working as a waitress in a restaurant today. However, she has her own dream: to stand in the boxing ring and win the gold belt.

To supplement her nutrition, she would secretly pack up the leftover meat from the customers' meals. When she was discovered, she could only awkwardly say that she was taking it home to feed her dog, unaware that she herself was that dog.

After seeing Frankie on TV, Maggie thought that this old coach could help her become a real boxer, so she came to him for help.

"Coach Frankie, I'm Maggie, a boxer. I've fought in amateur matches and won. Have you seen me?"

Frankie didn't even glance at her and walked away, asking, "Miss, do I owe you money?"

"No!" Maggie hurriedly chased after her.

"Do I have an affair with your mother?"

"Oh? I wish that were the case, then you should train me."

"What?"

"I want you to be my coach, train me, and turn me into a professional boxer!" Maggie said expectantly.

Frankie snorted and said with some disdain, "I don't bring girls."

"Maybe you should watch my fights. I'm a really strong boxer, everyone says so."

"Girl, brute force alone isn't enough to win a boxing match!"

Frankie concluded, then ignored Maggie and left with his beloved student.

The following day, in Frankie's old boxing gym, the camera focused on a young man played by Jay Baruchel.

He was passionate about boxing, practicing his punches rapidly and excitedly shouting, "I'm Boxer Bucky, nicknamed Dangerous Boy, and I'll be the lightweight champion!"

But he was then brutally beaten by Anthony McCann's cameo role, instantly losing his temper and running away crying.

In contrast, Maggie, in order to gain Frankie's approval, used her savings to pay for six months of tuition and practiced alone at the boxing gym. Her lonely figure caught the attention of Frankie and Eddie, played by Morgan Freeman.

But an expert could tell at a glance that Maggie had not received any professional training; her so-called fierceness was merely an innate instinctive reaction.

But Frankie's attention was currently focused on his prized student, Maggie, who was driving him crazy.

On the contrary, Eddie, who was also a former boxer, saw in Maggie the excellent quality of perseverance in pursuing one's dreams.

At this point, 20 minutes into the movie, the plot had become utterly uneventful, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it extremely clichéd.

Because of the bland and uneventful plot, even the three most skilled actors had no chance to showcase their talents, and couldn't even put on a good performance.

In the audience, many people's attention had already begun to wander, while several spies from the six major powers couldn't help but chuckle to themselves.

"Hehe. It seems the boss is overthinking it. This looks like a mediocre movie, at least for now, there's nothing remarkable about it."

"It's too cliché, the script is too cliché. I can already imagine how it will go. Frankie will train Maggie to win the championship, and then it will end happily."

"I think that's about it, but unfortunately, this set of Rocky has been overdone, and it can't be easily replicated just by changing the gender."

"Send a text message to the boss and tell him not to worry, The Polar Express is a sure win."

"Wait a minute, let's take another look, just in case."

On the big screen, Frankie and Eddie have an argument because of the betrayal of their star pupil.

"I nurtured him for eight years, a full eight years, and he switched sides!"

"Frankie, that's because you're stopping him. Willie is strong enough to challenge the champion, but you're making him wait and wait. He had that strength two years ago. To be honest, I'm surprised he could wait for you for two years."

"I just wanted to play it safe. I was protecting him, not like you did back then, rushing into the fray and ending up losing an eye!"

"But at least I tried; I went on stage!"

Finally, after more than half an hour of the movie, Frankie began training Maggie.

As the two get to know each other, Frankie's past is slowly revealed. He has a daughter as old as Maggie, but due to Frankie's problems, the relationship between father and daughter is very bad. He wrote countless letters, but they were all returned by his daughter.

Seeing this scene, many people sighed again; it was still the same old, clichéd plot.

After several months of training, Maggie faced her first real match. Her three months of training with Hilary Swank had not been in vain; she was now performing all sorts of moves with impressive skill.

Eric gave Swank a thumbs-up across the seat, praising her professionalism, while his mind involuntarily recalled the fear he had once felt while being dominated by "Sweet Combat".

Maggie is an explosive type of fighter with amazing talent, often knocking out her opponents with smooth combos.

She traveled to cities like Los Angeles, New York, and Seattle, achieving a 12-game winning streak, finally eliciting cheers from the movie theaters.

This is the kind of plot that audiences like to see. Everyone wants the protagonist to win, and they want to see the protagonist beat his opponent to a pulp. That's when the thrill finally kicks in.

Seeing the audience's reaction, Gal Gadot, Charlize Theron, and other actresses finally breathed a sigh of relief. To be honest, they also felt that the movie was not very interesting and was a bit too boring.

But if the movie is really mediocre, with my husband making such a big fuss today, I'm afraid I'll lose face.

At this moment, Hilary Swank finally got a chance to showcase her acting skills.

Maggie's nose was shattered by a punch from her opponent, and the crisp cracking sound and the sight of blood immediately made many viewers frown.

But Maggie didn't want to give up the competition, so she asked Frankie to forcefully bend her nose back.

Unable to resist Maggie's pleas, Frankie stuffed a towel into Maggie's mouth and began his act. The pain of the process was perfectly displayed by Hilary Swank, making everyone who watched feel their hair stand on end, as if their own nose had been broken.

"Take a deep breath!"

"What?"

"Drain the blood back! You must defeat your opponent within 20 seconds!"

With unwavering determination, Maggie endured the excruciating pain and unleashed a powerful attack, causing many viewers to relax the moment she defeated her opponent.

Immediately afterward, as Maggie prepared to travel to Europe for a competition, Frankie commissioned a cloak for her with a Gaulish inscription—"Mokuchele!"

Maggie lived up to expectations and defeated her opponent once again. The female lead activated her cheat code, and the movie seemed to suddenly enter a thriller mode.

She took Frankie to the restaurant where she had eaten with her father when she was a child, symbolizing the father-daughter relationship between the two.

In contrast, Maggie's family are all vampires who spend the money she works so hard to earn through boxing without any gratitude, which only highlights the preciousness of their relationship.

At the 90-minute mark of the movie, the female lead also faces her championship challenge.

The audience was eager to see what was to come, some even looking forward to the upcoming big fight; a half-hour boxing match was sure to be a great show.

The actress playing Maggie's opponent is Lucia Reco, a professional boxer hired by the production team. She is a real boxer, at the level of a boxing champion.

With 36 wins in 37 professional games, she was dubbed the female version of Tyson, possessing a muscular physique and a fierce and aggressive playing style.

After the match started, Maggie was put on the defensive, which made the audience a little anxious, but it didn't matter because everyone knew that she would soon beat her opponent to a pulp, just like Rocky.

As expected, the plot unfolded as Frankie instructed, with Maggie exploiting her opponent's weaknesses and unleashing a barrage of punches that left her defenseless.

"Yeah!"

"That's it!"

Many viewers shouted excitedly, then quickly shut up and focused on watching the movie.

But just when the audience thought Maggie would press her advantage and completely crush her opponent to win the gold belt.

Her opponent suddenly attacked from behind, knocking Maggie down with a single punch. The impact caused a secondary head injury, and she collapsed unconscious on the boxing ring.

The scene then shifts to Maggie lying in a hospital bed, paralyzed from the waist down, her life ruined.

At that moment, not only did the audience on the screen fall silent, but the audience off the screen also fell silent.

What does this mean? This plot doesn't make sense.

Why aren't you playing by the rules?

Shouldn't the female lead win the gold belt? What's with the paralysis she got beaten up?

"I get it! It must be that the female lead works hard to get back on her feet and then stages a revenge battle!" some viewers imagined.

But looking at the time, there are less than twenty minutes left. Isn't that a bit too short?

"I think this movie should end when Maggie stands up, and then they'll make a sequel, the revenge movie. That's for sure."

"Heh. If a movie is made like this, do you think it will survive at the box office?"

"That's true, no, I don't quite understand what the director is trying to do."

Nico frowned, sensing something was wrong; the sudden absence gave her a sense of crisis.

On the big screen, the prolonged immobility caused Maggie's muscles to begin to disappear, her body to atrophy, and bedsores to develop under her arms.

This scene is a bit disgusting to watch. Thinking about the female lead who was so energetic just now, it makes one feel uneasy.

Frankie went to the best doctors, prayed in church, and tried everything he could think of, but nothing worked.

It wasn't until the female lead's leg was amputated due to necrosis that the audience finally gave up their illusions and realized that Maggie really couldn't stand up again.

The harsh realities of life made Maggie want to find a way out; rather than die on her knees, she wanted to live standing up!

She attempted suicide by biting her tongue, but the doctor discovered her and stitched up her wound. Frankie realized that this woman did not want to spend her life in a hospital bed.

This scene once again showcased Hilary Swank's acting skills to the fullest, expressing grief, despair, resentment, and a stubbornness that defies death on her face.

"I can't go on like this anymore. I've experienced everything in life and seen the world."

"People were chanting my name; they were cheering for me."

"I never expected these things to happen before. Rather than lingering on, I'd rather burn brightly."

"Frankie, I don't want to force you to do this, but I've already gotten everything I wanted."

"I don't want my dignity taken away!"

The two had a heart-to-heart talk at the bedside.

Frankie also expressed what Mokuschler meant—my beloved, my flesh and blood!

At that moment, many viewers felt as if their hearts had been struck a heavy blow, and their eyes involuntarily welled up with tears.

Knowing what Mokuschel represented, Maggie's last wish was fulfilled, and tears welled up in her eyes.

After gently kissing her cheek, Frankie turned off Maggie's ventilator, administered her medication, and personally sent her off to the afterlife.

After seeing Maggie off, Frankie himself disappeared without a trace, and no one ever saw the old man again.

Eddie stayed at the boxing gym, waiting for his friend to return, though he didn't know if Frankie would come back or if he had already died somewhere.

Just as many spectators were feeling distressed, the gym doors were pushed open.

The dangerous kid who left has returned.

"Sir, I think you are right. Everyone experiences failure, but I still want to win the gold belt."

"Then go train. You've been neglecting your training for a while now."

"I'm Bucky, the boxer nicknamed Dangerous Boy, and I'll be the lightweight champion!"

Ultimately, the film seemed to come to a close amidst a renewed sense of hope.

Splash!

Bang bang bang bang

When the lights came back on, the audience spontaneously applauded.

Watching Hilary Swank go on stage to express her gratitude, Nicole clapped and sighed.

"Eric, I suddenly felt a little worried just now, and now I understand why."

"Um?"