phenomenal cast in a lackluster script

Rating: 6/10 (26 July 2015)

Southpaw has noble enough ambitions: a story of a man who is on top (but probably, just more than a bit, arrogant at his current position) with a wife and kid who love him and he right back, and (no) thanks to a very tragic accident (wife dies) he finds himself at rock bottom and has to crawl back up to the top, on his own terms. Oh, and it's a boxing movie, so it has the rags to riches then back to rags and maybe some riches again type of arc, 'and with the sort of vibe that comes from the "streets". I put that in quotes as I can't say for sure whether it fully represents it or not; I have to think it does, being that Southpaw was originally meant as a vehicle for Eminem (who now has the theme song "Phenomenon", which is kind of obnoxious frankly) and is directed by Antoine Fuqua, who made one of the superb 'street' thrillers several years back with Training Day.
What you get as the most positive thing with Southpaw are the performances. Every actor here is putting in more than their work-load, from Rachel McAdams to her one act (from the poster you might think she'll be in it longer, but the trailer gives it away and it's not so much a twist as it is just that sudden turn to the story's conflicts), to Oona Lawrence as Billy (Jake Gyllenhaal) Hope's daughter - she is a seriously wonderful child actress, on par with all of her fellow actors, and really delivering on what she is asked to do, but giving a little something extra. And of course there's the Gyllenhaal and Forest Whitaker playing the role of the beleaguered no-BS-not-quite-but-really-Mickey-from-Rocky trailer. They're all good here. Hell, even 50 Cent has some good scenes.
What you get as not so good is the script. I know a lot of passion went into this project, and I have to think Kurt Sutter went into this with his heart hanging out in the air. Unfortunately his book-of-clichés gets laid bare as well; we know where this train is headed the moment that Billy Hope actually wins the first fight in the movie; he is clearly TOO much at an advantage, though clearly flawed as a fighter, as well, in some small part as a father. Again, the actors help fill in some of the gaps, but I never felt or saw like these characters really had interesting lives outside of what the plot was requiring them to do. It doesn't help that Billy Hope is kind of just Aggression-Times-Ten... until he isn't, but by then he still doesn't have much in the way of his main purpose: get my daughter back, get back my dignity as a fighter, period, end of case.
For some, this may be enough. I heard some cheering in the final fight (hey, that's not a spoiler either, you KNOW it's coming, what boxing movie wouldn't have it, let alone one as bare-bonedly-conventional as this one). And the acting may help show up some stuff. It's also notable as one of James Horner's final scores - albeit, and damn me for criticizing the recently departed, some of that is forced as the script is too, though not always. But ultimately, Southpaw feels weighed down by what it's required to go through in the steps of Making The Audience Feel Something, and is a case in point that a director and cast can only do so much with a lacking script. If this had a lessor cast, it might be unwatchable.