40 Years of Movies: 2004

 


2021 is the year I turn 40. As part of my celebration, I'm looking back at 40 years of movies, picking my favorite film from each year I've been around! To learn more about the criteria for this process, check this introduction. Each post will feature my pick, plus three runner's up. So check back over the next 40 weeks of this journey!

2004:  

Million Dollar Baby
About: What a powerful and fascinating film. For me, it's Clint Eastwood's best work as a director and perhaps his best performance as an actor. I remember when I first saw the film, expecting a sports movie about a scrappy woman who tries to make it. And it is that. Hilary Swank is great in that role, and Morgan Freeman is great, too. But it's the switch the film makes for the final act, and the heart-breaking and thought-provoking turn the story takes that made it incredibly powerful. It was my favorite of the year it was released, and one of my favorites of that decade.

Other Considerations:
The Passion of the Christ
About: For all his faults, Mel Gibson crafted a powerful film that captures the final days in the life of Jesus Christ. It's brutal to watch, and told totally with subtitles. It's incredibly powerful and tough to see. I remember when I saw it in the theater the first time, and how shaken I was at that time. It was more than a decade before I revisited the film, but it remains powerful.

Garden State
About: I love Zach Braff, and this film that he wrote/directed and starred in is a lot of fun at times. Natalie Portman is great here, too. It's a different kind of comedy, but it's one I've long enjoyed and has always stuck with me, particularly the scene where Portman tugs on her ear as a sign it's time to go. The soundtrack is strong here, too.

National Treasure
About: This is the modern day successor to Indiana Jones, and is one of the better Nicolas Cage films in the modern era. He's great as Benjamin Franklin Gates, and the story here that churns through U.S. history is really engaging. This is a fun ride that really holds up.

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