Conventional, but Very Entertaining

Rating: 8/10 (26 July 2015)

When this film was originally announced, rapper Eminem was attached to the lead role. After his excellent turn in "8 Mile," I was excited to see how he would take on a film scripted by Kurt Sutter of "Sons of Anarchy" fame. I admit that I was quite disappointed when Eminem dropped out and was replaced by Jake Gyllenhaal. Now, I'm eating my words.
First and foremost, Gyllenhaal is excellent. His gritty, tough performance drives the picture and makes it better than it would otherwise be. July may be too early for awards talk, but hopefully the Academy keeps an eye on him for nomination time. He is easily deserving of the nod, especially after being snubbed for his brilliant turn in "Nightcrawler." His transformation between the two films is unbelievable, and the work it took should be noted and rewarded.
Gyllenhaal plays Billy Hope, a boxer who is undefeated in the ring and loves to take hits. His life is great until his wife is tragically killed at a charity event. Billy instantly succumbs to alcohol, goes into depression, and loses his house, his money, and custody of his 10-year- old daughter. With everything he loves gone, he turns to a new trainer, played convincingly by Forrest Whitaker, to train him to get back in the ring and win his daughter back.
The film has a nice, tight script when it comes to dialogue, but often misses the mark in terms of plot. It doesn't fail when it comes to emotional story lines, but it follows the conventional code, specifically the formulas seen in "Rocky" and "Rocky III." There are simply too many similarities to be found between these films, which causes the mind to wonder whether Sutter is as creative as we thought. Sutter's grit is definitely felt, but not his wit.
There isn't much to complain about when it comes to Antoine Fuqua's direction, other than that his common over-reliance on violence is felt and he throws in some very unneeded and distracting point-of-view shots during the final fight. Otherwise, the film looks really good, and the dark lighting fits perfectly. The fight scenes are slightly over-the-top, but damn fun to watch. I found myself not wanting the last fight to end and thinking, "this is what boxing should be like."
When it comes down to it, the truth is that this is a good, emotional, gritty boxing film. It strikes a chord and nearly accomplishes what it would like to, especially during the deeply touching and emotional scenes between Hope and his daughter, played very well by Oona Laurence. With a stellar cast that moves the film along, "Southpaw" does enough to bring some cheers by the gripping final fight. The disappointment largely comes from the feeling that the film has the potential to be great, if not Oscar-worthy, but is unable to get there by being held back by conventional boxing film tropes.