After missing out on an Oscar for Mystic River, director Clint Eastwood hit back with boxing drama Million Dollar Baby. He also stars opposite Hilary Swank in this classic underdog story, which "packs a stunning emotional punch". On the big night, Eastwood walked away with two gongs for Best Director and Best Picture while Swank and co-star Morgan Freeman scored one each.

Punch Drunk

Presenter and acting guru James Lipton talked to Eastwood, Freeman and Swank the day after their Oscar success, which gives him the excuse to be even more sycophantic than we've come to expect on Inside The Actor's Studio. However, between all the gushing there are some interesting points on the creative process. Most engaging of all is Swank who reveals that, "I felt closest to Maggie than any other character I've played." She goes on to relate her own rags-to-riches story while Freeman plays it typically cool. "I just lifted the character off the page, " he says. "I always depend on the writer."

The writer in question is Paul Haggis who talks briefly about adapting the short story by FX Toole in Producer's Round 15. It's almost unheard of in Hollywood, but the very first draft of the script wound up on the screen. "It was ragged," admits Haggis, "But he [Eastwood] liked the mistakes that were in it." Meanwhile producers Al Ruddy and Tom Rosenberg explain why they were beating down the door of FX Toole for the screen rights. Ruddy is a particularly gruff and grizzled man, which makes it all the more amusing when he admits to crying after reading Toole's novella. Naturally, when his wife asked him what the matter was, he insisted, "I've got something in my eye."

Going The Distance

"It's about people on the edge of society," says Eastwood in Born To Fight. But in addition to the usual notes on the themes and characters, this making of featurette benefits greatly from the insights of Lucia Rijker. She played Billie The Blue Bear but was also a World Champion boxer who relates much of what Maggie goes through in the film to her own experiences in the ring. "You need a background where you've suffered a lot to be able to physically take the beating," she says. Expanding on this, Swank talks about fighting as "an escape route" and admits that training for the role also taught her to "push harder" than she was used to, both physically and emotionally.

As is usual for films by Clint Eastwood, there is virtually nothing in the way of direct behind-the-scenes access and no feature commentary. On the upside, all three featurettes are quite substantial with Swank in particular being very open about the ways in which the film has touched her own life. While it appears to offer a lean package of extras, this DVD is certainly not lightweight.

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