Review of Southpaw (2015) by Matt H — 29 Oct 2015

Throws every cliche in the book into the movie. Solid performance from Jake Gyllenhaal, and the father/daughter relationship is at least ok, but Southpaw was pretty pedestrian in every other way. Forest Whitaker was a hugely surprising disappointment.

Part of that may be due to the poorly written character and the most cliche addled part of the film he is given, but his performance even feels phoned in. That scene where the kid that boxed at his gym dies (or we are told about his death) is just horrible, talk about trying to squeeze in more tragic emotion that the movie just doesn't earn.

That's how a lot of the movie feels. The fight scenes are also pretty unmemorable, which definitely doesn't help. Kind of just ridiculous overall.