Rally good boxing movie

Rating: 8/10 (27 July 2015)

Southpaw really feeds into the formula.
Billy Hope grew up on the wrong side of the tracks in a group home, most likely were he learned how to box and get off the streets to become a superstar, and just when the world's looking good, they take his wife with a stray bullet, and his downward spiral causes the very system that raised him to take his daughter away, but with a name like Billy Hope, you known he'll always have a small bit of light and it leads him back into the fight for his life in the ring.
Jake Gyllenhaal is a great actor, but I'm not all impressed with his performance here. It's similar to Sly Stallone's Rocky, but not as impressive in comparison.
I like Forest Whitaker's role in the movie as the Mr. Miyagi styled boxing coach, who teaches Billy how to win without taking so many hits, as he like to do. The boxing training scenes were low key but fun to watch. Especially watching the aftermath of this training and seeing it implemented in the ring was unique and interesting.
The relationship between Billy Hope and his daughter also added some freshness to the whole story. I found it realistic to the situation.
Overall the movie told an impressive story about the raise a fall of a boxer, though it hit almost every stereotype you can think off about the sport.
I would not call it Raging Bull, but it comes close.