Review of Southpaw (2015) by Zach M — 21 Nov 2015
Rocky is the boxing movie I will always judge boxing movies by, boxing is a sport where man goes man against and often face there fears (thou not so much with Mayfield and Pacman). Southpaw is a decent movie, but its hollow, its like they took Rocky 3 and combined it with Rocky 5 and let the magic unfurl.
Expect like the Mayfield/Pacman fight, the magic never really happens. It just kinda rolls on in a mellow fashion to the point Jake Gyllenhaal fights his nemesis and puts his life back in order. Curtis Jackson (50 cent) gives a surprisingly good performance as the Don King figure in Billy Hope's life, Jake Gyllenhaal also offers a good performance as a plateauing boxer, when his life starts to go wrong you really see his struggle with his demons.
Forest Whitaker thou gives the best performance in the trainer that rebuilds the fallen Billy Hope. He's probably the most developed character outside of Billy Hope. The movie is enjoyable but its slightly hollow and missing something that Rocky had.
The cliches are certainly are there and are played on to there fullest however the joy of any of the Rocky movies isn't there. Ultimately this is what Southpaw is aiming for, a Rocky style Lazarus story of resurrection.
Whilst not a bad a movie it does leave you feeling kinda empty and some characters aren't explored to the point where holes are left in character development.
This review of Southpaw (2015) was written by Zach M on 21 Nov 2015.
Southpaw has generally received positive reviews.
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