great film turned merely good by the trailer

Rating: 8/10 (2 November 2015)

The very first time I saw the trailer - I was not happy. I mean just go ahead and show us the entire film. CHampion boxer gets offended by up-n-coming challenger, the Champion's wife dies in the melee, he loses it, in turn loses custody of his kid, gets his act together, wins back his title and his daughter. NOW, I shouldn't have even had to check the "contains spoilers" box for this review, because the trailer let me know all of that before I watched the film.
It's a shame too. I think the impact of Rachel McAdams death would have been a lot greater had the trailer concealed the fact. The scene is great! Fantastically acted and powerful - only we saw it coming!
Hopefully Fuqua will realize the gravity of this mistake. WIthout the trailer, I think this film would have gained more steam at the box office and on rental, but people put it off because, heck, we know what's gonna happen.
Jake Gylenhaal is great. THe direction is sharp. The boxing scenes among the best and most realistic that Hollywood has ever had to offer. The film manages to pull itself out of all the depression without seeming too cliché' or happy-go-lucky, and yet all of these successes, all of the fantastic film-making, and it's overall impact, is lessened because of poorly thought-out, nearly criminal trailer.
75/100. Probably would say 82/100 had I not seen it all coming.