Another Great Boxing Film, With Jake Gyllenhaal In It This Time

Rating: 9/10 (28 April 2016)

Southpaw is directed by Antoine Fuqua and stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Billy Hope, a world champion boxer who, when a certain event happens in his life, finds himself in a downward spiral towards poverty and depression. After reaching rock bottom, he meets a trainer of a boxing gym named Tick Wills, played by Forest Whitaker, and decides that the past can't, and won't get the best of him. He then works his way to the top, encountering all the people responsible for his downfall.
Okay, to get it out of the way, yes, Southpaw follows the "boxing" movie cliché. However, almost every fighting/boxing movie does. Rocky and all of its sequels, Cinderella Man (2005), Raging Bull (1980), and pretty much every other movie involving a fighter/boxer follows this formula. But, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. This is proved by Southpaw, another amazing boxing movie. Near everything about Southpaw was great, and it surprisingly had a lot of emotion to it.
The best thing about Southpaw is the actors and their portrayals of the characters. Jake Gyllenhaal is amazing as Billy, especially for being just a few months out of Nightcrawler (2014). Rachel McAdams as Billy's wife, Maureen, was a great casting choice. Although she played the cliché "worried wife," she did it well, and it worked well for this movie. Forest Whitaker is, once again, great in his role. He plays the retired fighter very nicely, and brought a lot of life to this dark movie. Even 50 Cent (Curtis Jackson) does pretty good. 50 Cent plays Billy's agent, and plays strictly by business, and he does it well.
However, despite all of the great acting throughout Southpaw, the acting that surprised me the most was that of Billy's daughter, Leila, played by Oona Laurence. This girl was only around 12 when playing this part, and gives a performance that most 30-40 year olds can't even give. She was great in every scene she was in, especially in one scene, no spoilers, when she is expressing her anger towards her father for certain things going on in their life. Her performance blew me away, and I really hope to see her in future films.
The direction by Antoine Fuqua, particularly during the fight scenes, is amazing. There are specific shots during the boxing matches where the camera was in first person view, and it's very impressive. In the way that the shot was set up, the camera displays Billy's opponent punching at the screen, which is great. It immerses the viewer straight into the film, and adds a whole new level the movie's experience.
Now, the only complaint I had with Southpaw was a very small one. This movie's depressing, and that's not a bad thing. Most boxing movies center around the zero-to-hero plot, and Southpaw follows this old formula, and does it very well. Maybe too well. At a certain point, the audience starts to get the sadness of Billy's life beaten over their heads so hard that it gets a bit exasperating. Although it's a good premise, the film delves into the sadness too hard at some points, and it's distracting and exhausting after awhile.
Overall, Southpaw is a great movie, and is a nice addition to the boxing movie collection. I'd recommend Southpaw to anyone who can handle the violence and sadness aspects.