The American dream is one of our most popular ideologies.

It means many things to many different people, and has found a way to transcend time across generations.

Clint Eastwood knows a thing or two about the American dream. As a matter of fact, he has lived it.

He has gone from obscure, no-name television actor to one of the most unforgettable performers in the history of film, to a celebrated director of motion pictures. Only now, in the latter stages of his career, is Eastwood able to give us one of the most unforgettable portraits of the American dream that has ever been captured on film: Million Dollar Baby.

Although Eastwood is a star of his beautiful depiction -- in what is perhaps his finest hour on screen -- he takes a back seat in this movie to his heroine Maggie Fitzgerald, played remarkably by Hilary Swank. It is an understatement to say that this is one of the most powerful female performances in recent years. Swank lives up to her praise as a woman with an unusual and seemingly impossible dream.

The movie begins with Fitzgerald finding her way into a gym run by Eastwood's boxing trainer Frankie Dunn, a veteran of the business. Discouraged to train this "girly" at the start, Frankie begins to see the undying determination in Maggie's eyes as she refuses to let her dream of being a female boxer go. At the subtle behest of his partner Scrap (Morgan Freeman), Frankie takes on the task of turning this hillbilly girl into a million dollar baby. And away we go.

In the first two acts of the film we are treated to the rise of Maggie through a series of hard-hitting fights and wonderful boxing choreography. Eastwood's dedication to the subject matter is displayed in every frame as he utilizes many of the tricks he learned over his years of being brutalized and battered in western films.

Freeman's primary purpose in this beginning part is to be the narrator, and who better to do so than the man from The Shawshank Redemption?

But more so than just a simple tale of a boxer rising up through the odds, what we are treated to in the early stages of this film is some of the finest understanding of character ever displayed on film. When looking at the three people in charge of the majority of the dialogue, should we have expected anything less? There is conversation in this movie. Pay attention to the word conversation, because it is important.

Many of the early scenes of dialogue may lead a viewer to wonder what Eastwood was thinking in the editing room. But if that is the case, the ignorance is our own, not Eastwood's.

During his years in the business, the actor/director has learned what is important to a film, what to leave in, what to leave out. Here, through small and meaningless conversation, we learn more about these people's lives than any great scene of action could ever tell us. And with that being the case, the movie's third act means more to us than we could have ever possibly imagined. Don't be surprised if you find yourself remembering scenes from this film for months to come.

As a film overall, Million Dollar Baby succeeds in the simplest ways imagined. There is no flashy dialogue, no spectacular visual effects, no overacting, even Eastwood's musical score thrives in its quiet, unassuming space. We are given an American masterpiece that has a depth and understanding that is rare in the movies nowadays. So rare in fact, that we won't even notice it until the final credit has rolled.