Review of Southpaw (2015) by Dylan M — 06 Feb 2016

Southpaw, directed by Antoine Fuqua and stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Forrest Whitaker, 50 cent, and Rachel McAdams. Southpaw had a flowing pace filled with an intriguing, heartfelt drama that kept my eyes glued to the screen.

The movie's about a professional boxer who has it all going for him but when a tragic incident occurs, its up to him to turn his life around and become the better man. I really thought this was a well made film Sure it has an absurd amount of clichés and predicable elements to it.

Yes, we have the montages, the hero to root for, and the started from the bottom plot scheme Southpaw uses those clichés and goes beyond the classic boxing formula to make a film better than its standards.

Jake Gylennhall was once again astounding. This guy can do anything. The amount of effort and hard work he puts into every role in every movie really shows and the results are 99% of the time perfect.

Also watch out for Oona Laurence, who gives an incredibly surprising performance as Gyllenhaals daughter. I thought Antoine Fuquas direction was once again very good. The boxing scenes were intense and impressively shot.

Not a lot of cuts and solid use of consistent wide shots. A common issue I had with the film was the overuse of emotion. The film did have many good emotional scenes that were very effectual. It just got to a point as to where it was the same thing every scene and lost its charm.

Despite the average reviews and ratings. I found Southpaw very enjoyable. Stylishly done with Fuquas direction backed by another gratifying Gyllenhaal performance. Southpaw will leave any fan of the boxing movie genre happy.