Review of Southpaw (2015) by Brett H — 06 Dec 2015

Gritty, violent, and a bit on the depressing side, Southpaw is a boxing film with much more drama going on outside the ring and when you have Antoine Fuqua behind the camera, you know it's going to be memorable.

The story follows a boxer who falls from grace after tragedy strikes (that was of course ruined in the trailer) and has to build himself back up to regain custody of his daughter and get his career back on track; fairly standard for this genre, but the cliches work in the film's favour.

This is the first screenplay by Sons of Anarchy helmer, Kurt Sutter, and while he ticks the boxes of an underdog sports film, he infused the story with well-developed characters and a mostly relatable story we can all get behind.

The film was originally intended to be a starring vehicle for rapper, Eminem as a semi-sequel to his hit, 8 Mile, but after he put the film on hold to focus on his music career, they went with Gyllenhaal instead, which was the right choice as I think I'd have a hard time buying Eminem as this character.

Jake Gyllenhaal is one of the best actors working today and got absolutely SHREDDED for this role and his embodiment of a meat-headed, bruiser-type not long after his psychopathic, gaunt performance in Nightcrawler is impressive-as-hell.

The supporting cast is also stellar with Rachel McAdams, Naomie Harris, and 50 Cent (yes, you read that right) adding plenty with limited roles but Forest Whitaker easily stole the show as this is the best work he's done in YEARS! The film is not perfect: there are some unnecessary subplots that feel forced and the resolution of the tragedy that befalls, Billy Hope, is noticeably absent; first-time screenwriter isn't an excuse for a gap that big.

Still, apart from some script issues this is one hell of an emotional rollercoaster and the performances all deliver in spades; the scene where disaster strikes is one of the most realistic and heart-wrenching scenes of its kind I think I've ever seen.

The Southpaw title doesn't quite suit the film with right-handed Gyllenhaal, but it was originally intended for left-handed, Marshall Mathers so I'll let it slide.