Grim Boxing Drama with Excellent Performances

Rating: Null/10 (23 December 2015)

Southpaw (2015)
*** (out of 4)
Jake Gyllenhaal completely transforms into boxer Billy Hope, a man who seems to have everything going for him until he loses it all in and outside of the ring. At his lowest level he meets trainer Tick Wills (Forest Whitaker) and soon the two are using one another to try and gain back what they've lost.
SOUTHPAW comes from director Antoine Fuqua and is another crowd-pleaser for the filmmaker who certainly shows what he can do with such dark material. Let's get this out of the way right here. The biggest problem with SOUTHPAW is the fact that it's yet another boxing movie about a loser who gets everything only to find himself without it all and having to work his way back. The entire redemption aspect in boxing movies has been seen since the silent days and they continued through every decade. It really is true that if you've seen one boxing movie then you've pretty much seen them all.
With that said, there's no question that boxing movies continue to be made because director-actor combos see the beauty in their stories. I mean, who doesn't like a tale of redemption and comeback? We like to see our heroes take a tumble so that they have to be normal again and fight to get everything back. Fuqua does some of the greatest direction of his career because this is a brutally grim movie. The entire film has an overcast over it, which just makes it seem so gloomy and dark but how the director pulls this off is very impressive. It's not a fun film and there's more depression than anything else but we can identify with the main character no matter how much we might not like about him.
Of course, the reason an actor would be interested in a boxing movie is because it would let him play so many different ranges. Gyllenhaal is simply terrific here as he pulls off the white trash role with perfection and there's no question that he handles the physical aspect. He obviously got into terrific shape for the film and he certainly makes you believe that he's a boxer and not just some actor playing a part. Whitaker is also very good in the supporting role as is Rachel McAdams and Curtis Jackson. Oona Laurence is also impressive in the role of the daughter.
SOUTHPAW features a very good soundtrack, terrific sound effects and some great cinematography. As I said, we've seen this type of boxing melodrama countless times over the years but the film has a unique atmosphere and certainly a great performance that makes it worth viewing.