Despite very strong performances and good direction it doesn't quite hit the mark.

Rating: 7/10 (1 August 2015)

Let me first get this out there I was really looking forward to this film. Jake Gyllenhaall is actually my favorite actor so if he's in a project I'm pretty much immediately interested. With the talent involved I wanted the film to be great and in my opinion it's good but to say good is disappointing and I had issues with the film that I'll get to.
My favorite thing by far about the thing and what I was expecting to be best about it was the acting. Gyllenhaal gives a really solid performance and I could tell while I was watching it that he has prepared immensely for the film. well for the role. Forest Whittaker proves how much talent he has and he's very good here as Gyllenhaal's character's trainer. Rachael McAddams is also good in it as Gyllenhaall character's wife and her and Gyllenhaal had great chemistry.
However my main problem with Southpaw is that the events happen WAY too quick. For me they didn't explain enough some of the things that Gyllenhaal went through. I sort of get why they didn't want to go for that as to be fair the film is more of a boxing film than a character study.
As far as the clichés go I don't mind if they're in a film if they are done in a good style and here they are done OK. But I think that a problem with boxing films is that there's a very good chance that they will have them because boxing films henge to Rocky.
Antoine Fuqua directs the film well and I like how he shows how Billy slowly sees how everything crumbles down and he showed it in a way that worked well for the film.
On a side note do not watch the trailer if you are thinking about going to see the film because they practically spoil the plot.
Conclusion: Southpaw is a slight disappointment for me but to be completely honest I'm glad that it is at least a good film. It's worth seeing for the acting alone and I can say that it's worth seeing despite not being as good as it could have been.