Yes and no

Rating: 5/10 (5 October 2015)

Southpaw reminds me of Fury. That's because, both movies tell stories that have already been told before. I have more or less seen Southpaw even before watching it, just with different cast and directors.
I don't have anything against that by default. IMO same or similar stories to each other can be told as many times as long as they entertain the viewer again. For example, Fury was very generic and clichéd, but it had some good moments of it's own and it kept me entertained.
Southpaw was generic and clichéd as well, but the truly great moments lacked.
The feels the movie tried to push at me felt far too artificial. When the protagonist Billy Hope's wife Maureen died, it was too soon and it didn't have an impact on me. It was so artificial, cause obviously I will feel sorry for the guy, because his wife died, but solely because she was his wife. The movie didn't make me feel anything in regards of her character. I barely even got to know her.
Billy's progress through the movie was too superficial and didn't make me feel anything below the surface. That's why the ending felt stale, even though it should have been a happy moment.
So story wise the movie is a big no no. But the acting from Jake Gyllenhaal was amazing. For what it's worth his performance made me watch the movie till the end. Rachel McAdams was lacking and she wasn't even in the movie for that long. Forest Whitaker wasn't even close to what he was in The Last King of Scotland, but he was still fine. And Naomie Harris surprised me! She was great in a small role.
The score did get on my nerves sometimes, the piano was nice, but the string instruments went too far at times. Music was used quite copiously even when dialogue was going on, or at least it felt like it. I wasn't a fan of that.
So a plus for the acting and a minus for the rest of the movie.