A colossal performance by Jake Gyllenhall that should not be missed; a must watch. I didn't want this movie to end!

Rating: 6/10 (3 October 2015)

Where do you go? Who do you turn to? When everything that you know and stand for comes collapsing down? Sounds a muddle doesn't it? Jake Gyllenhall possibly in the most potent role of his carrier plays Billy Hope a left-handed boxer aka a SOUTHPAW. The lightweight boxing champion is brought to his knees following the sudden and heartrending demise of his wife Maureen (Rachel McAdams) in the most indescribable of occurrences. Hope (no pun intended) is stripped away from everything that defines him, his wealth, his status, his sanity and his daughter Leila (Oona Laurence). Hope needs to find his self back to where he was. His biggest fight ever, a fight with himself.
SOUTHPAW isn't a movie about the sport of boxing. Instead it is an averagely done movie about the story of a boxer. To avoid disappointment this is the best way to sit down for this acting phenomenon. Personally I did not feel much for the entire concept of the movie. If one has watched ROCKY then I need not explain further, if one has not, then it's high time you did. However it is criminal to snub the entire motion picture away as a whole. This is the most powerful and sincere performance I have witnessed for the year 2015 and undoubtedly the best of Gyllenhall. His physical transformation from NIGHTCRAWLER alone parades his commitment. Bluntly stating his stupendous act took me by astonishment, I did not for once know he had that type versatility hidden away. This in my opinion is a promising contender for an Oscar nod come February 2016. Forest Whittaker delivers nothing short than what is expected of him. Now that is a man whom we are accustomed with for delivering powerful interpretations, with passion and sincerity, irrespective of the screenplay he is thrown into.
The hype prior to release and following has been enormous. There isn't anything in the screenplay or direction that would persuade me to dabble on about. It is bland and overrated as a whole in terms of the campaigning leading to the movie. The trailer misleads me to believe that this would be the movie of 2015 that would stagger me. Stagger me it did not. If you consider a screenplay being sad and making you derail emotionally as an outstanding movie then I will not stand in the way of such an opinion (Don't get me wrong, it is a beautiful movie, it just isn't best picture material). I shed a tear my self, only because of the mammoth performance by the cast who did magic with an average script.
A colossal performance by Jake Gyllenhall that should not be missed; a must watch. I didn't want this movie to end!
TITLE: SOUTHPAW DIRECTED BY: ANTOINE FUQUA STARRING: JAKE GYLLENHALL, RACHEL MCADAMS, OONA LAURENECE & FOREST WHITTAKER RATED: R RATING: 06/10 RUNTIME: 124 MINUTES