Those same critics claim the interplay between Eastwood's life-weary trainer, Frankie Dunn, and Morgan Freeman's wise, old, one-eyed exboxer, Scrap, is a classic of its kind.
The judges also say Swank's Maggie Fitzgerald, a toothy tigress with the dewy eyes of a doe, is a triumph. And that the twist in the tale arrives with the winding force of a sucker punch to the solar plexus.
But who better to pass judgment on this portrayal of women's boxing than London's leading woman boxer, world championship challenger Cathy 'The Bitch' Brown?
Standard Sport invited Cathy to a matinee performance at the Apollo West End cinema. And she immediately recognised the Hit Pit, Frankie's gym where fight novice Maggie goes in search of a trainer.
Cathy, who last month proved she can still cut it at the age of 34 by knocking out Viktoria Varga of Hungary inside two rounds, whispered: "Yeah, I've trained in spit and sawdust gyms like that, where the only place for a woman to change into her gear is a cupboard."
She couldn't help a "hah!", either, when the initially reluctant Frankie turns Maggie away with a curt "I don't train girls".
"I've heard that, too," she said. "I've gone to trainers who've told me 'I don't work with women because I don't believe in women boxing'.
"I've also had to deal with the guys like those in the film who taunt Maggie about her breasts. That's happened to me. Guys have come up and said things like 'I bet you're good at sparring in bed'.
"You deal with it by proving yourself-That's what I did and that's what Maggie does."
Cathy, possessing the good looks that have earned modelling commissions yet tough enough to have raced a yacht across the Atlantic, applauded Swank's characterisation of a muscle-honed sportswoman.
The actress worked out for five hours a day, six days a week for six months under Hector Roca, trainer of a whole stable of winners including three-times world champion Hector Camacho. "She obviously got very fit for the part," said Cathy. "And she has terrific talent. I could nit-pick and say her footwork wasn't that good, or her movement wasn't what it should be, but that wouldn't be fair. I just thought she was fantastic."
Less impressive were the fight scenes. "A bit Rocky-ish," Cathy observed. "I'd like to have seen scenes where Maggie had to dig deep.
"Any boxer, male or female, comes to a stage where they have to show mental strength, where they have to fight back against a sinking feeling that they're losing. I can remember fights where I've fought with a broken hand, where I've gashed my head and there was blood everywhere, when I was out on my feet but all the time knowing inside me there was no way I was giving up."
Eastwood goes heavy on the blood, and even battle-hardened Cathy audibly winced when Maggie's broken nose is popped back into place.
That scene and others, Cathy claimed, could be disastrous for her sport. "I don't think this film has done women's boxing any good whatsoever," she said. "The big fear for a lot of men - promoters, managers, trainers - is that a serious injury to a woman boxer might destroy the sport. I think some people will come away from this film not wanting to see women box in real life. That would be a shame. We train as hard as men, fight as hard, and we have the same right to be in the ring."
Million Dollar Baby? It coulda been a contender but sorry, Clint, you just didn't make Cathy's day.
