Southpaw - directed by Antoine Fuqua
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rachel McAdams, Oona Laurence, Forest Whitaker, 50 Cent, Naomie Harris, Skylan Brooks, Miguel Gomez, Victor Ortiz, Dominic Colon, Beau Knapp, Rita Ora
Running Time: 124 minutes
Rated: R16 - violence and profanity.
As I do with the sport I have a love / hate relationship with boxing movies.
Honestly- and with full knowledge of the heresy that I am committing- I have never understood "Raging Bulls" legendary status.
I like "Rocky" a fair bit and really liked "Real Steel" (I guess that qualifies as a boxing movie) but mostly they leave me a bit cold.
Even my favourite director Michael Mann's "Ali" mostly left me bored.
But then again "Million Dollar Baby" I love with a passion.
Which brings me to "Southpaw" and the reasons that I wasn't even sure that I wanted to see it.
I don't rate director Antoine Fuqua ("Training Day", "Tears of the Sun") at all and I find Jake Gyllenhaal great most of the time bit quite dull on occasion too.
So no great pull on the talent really or the genre.
Only a free couple of hours, Rachel McAdams and a cheap ticket sealed the deal.
This occurrence often bears unexpected fruit - it is the same situation that put me in a cinema seat a few years back to watch "Barney's Version" and that paid off royally.
(side note: the review- here- is the most read posting on this site at over 11,000 hits.... I have no idea why but I suspect a certain Rosamund Pike may have a lot to do with it)
But tonight, with no expectations at all I sat in a cinema watching "Southpaw".
A physical transformation by an actor is often used as a selling point and boxing flicks seem to have more than their share of this.
(Again - DeNiro in "Raging Bull", Hilary Swank in "Million Dollar Baby" and Will Smith in "Ali")
In this case it is Jake Gyllenhaal who has undergone a remarkable transformation to play champion boxer Billy Hope ('hope'... get it?).
A human canvas of vein and muscle that sprays blood as he pummels opponents Gyllenhaal outdoes the gym work he put in for his 2010 Prince of Persia flick that saw him increase his female fanbase by about triple.
He certainly looks like he could take up boxing for real.
From the abs, traps and biceps to the fame and adoration Billy Hope has it all- money, cars, a mansion and an adoring wife and daughter.
This being a boxing movie he will of course lose some or maybe all of it.
For fear of spoiling anything I won't say too much here.
I didn't know much going in so on the off chance that you are the same and that the plot isn't already common knowledge let's keep this spoiler free.
"Southpaw" is your basic boxer making a comeback kind of deal.
For the first half hour things look promising.
The opening fight was nicely executed and director Fuqua makes good use of close in shots and first person perspectives.
And yes, I am a sucker for Rachel McAdams who plays Billy's wife Maureen but regardless the chemistry between her and Gyllenhaal had me intrigued as to what was to unfold.
But when the completely expected crash comes it robbed the movie of most of my interest.
The main- and pretty huge- issue with "Southpaw" is the lead character himself.
He is such a... well - loser- that he is very very hard to get behind as he tries to get back his dignity and his life.
Yes- he loses a lot but the fashion in which it happens is unconvincing and the complete lack of respect that I already had for the character meant that I just didn't care about him.
It's not Gyllenhaal's fault.
His performance is fine even if it does rely on the scenes in the ring more than those out of it.
He is performing the role as scripted very well.
However the script makes Billy Hope such an angry, self pitying man that any investment and all sympathy is garnered by the supporting characters rather than he himself.
Young Oona Laurence as his daughter gives a confident, fine performance that I enjoyed very much.
She will appear in the upcoming "Pete's Dragon" opposite Bryce Dallas Howard, Robert Redford and Karl Urban so I am keen to see how she does.
She is clearly very talented.
Her "Southpaw" character I genuinely did care about but it almost works against the movie.
When Billy neglects her horribly as he spirals out of control any remaining tosses that I gave for him vanished.
Luckily Forest Whitaker as his new trainer provided some much needed investment for me.
Again this is down to his performance rather than anything in the script.
His character, like Billy has a distinct lack of characterisation.
There is a very cliched backstory about his boxing career and the tragedy that occurred but I swear that this was lifted right off Morgan Freeman's character from "Million Dollar Baby".
There should be an interesting, believable reason or reasons why he is running a dusty old gym but what is provided is far from it.
All appeal is in the performance here- not the character.
There is such a heavy handedness to "Southpaw" that even a scene in which Billy contemplates suicide seems overblown.
These kinds of moments need subtlety - a careful hand in the direction.
Fuqua surely lacks it and instead shows us the 45 on the bed with Billy hunched over it screaming before loading it.
And then he cuts away to show him leaving the house.
It is all set up and no payoff. What little drama or tension he manages to generate is squandered as we watch Billy reject yet another friend who is merely trying to help.
But we're not done watching him crash yet and there is scene after scene where I just wanted the guy to go back to the bed and stuff the pistol in his mouth and pull the trigger.
That's harsh I know but less than an hour in and that's how little I cared for the main character.
His daughter yes and in time his new trainer but Billy?... Nope.
The pluses of Rachel McAdams, Oona Laurence and Forest Whitaker aside this movie does have some nicely executed boxing scenes.
There is a tendency to overuse some shots that would be best saved for moments requiring the extra impact- first person views and the very close on the shoulder shots for example.
But credit where it is due- Fuqua delivers some effective scenes of biffo.
A lot of dialogue in this film seems either mumbled or lost in a bad sound mix (or maybe a poor cinema presentation?) but the late James Horners score and the sound of glove on flesh is at least well done.
By the time we get to the twenty odd minute finale I did find myself becoming more interested.
The path there might have been walked with little investment and delivered in a very unlikely fashion but when it came time for man vs man on the canvas I did find my interest return some.
I guess that is the appeal in the boxing movie.
When it all comes down to it there is a primal conflict - a spectacle in which there can be only one winner (in movies at least).
Billy's opponent is such an overblown, cliche we have no choice but to root for the loser we have spent so much time with.
"Real Steel" is guilty of the same but it gets away with it by giving us a down and outer that we really want to win because he has earned our admiration.
And Maggie in "Million Dollar Baby" (who is probably second only to Marion Ravenwood as my favourite female movie character) is infinitely more worthy of our love and respect as she takes on her own walking, punching, cheating one dimensional opponent.
Billy Hope on the other hand looks like he really hasn't changed at all.
Sorry to say that the hours in the gym were largely for nothing Jake- this is all brawn and not enough brain.
RATING: 68/ 100
CONCLUSION: Southpaw is so overblown, poorly paced and weakly characterised that it has to lean on the often exciting but uneven boxing scenes and the curiosity with Gyllenhaal's transformation to keep the viewer interested. A lightweight boxing wannabe.
Running Time: 124 minutes
Rated: R16 - violence and profanity.
As I do with the sport I have a love / hate relationship with boxing movies.
Honestly- and with full knowledge of the heresy that I am committing- I have never understood "Raging Bulls" legendary status.
I like "Rocky" a fair bit and really liked "Real Steel" (I guess that qualifies as a boxing movie) but mostly they leave me a bit cold.
Even my favourite director Michael Mann's "Ali" mostly left me bored.
But then again "Million Dollar Baby" I love with a passion.
Which brings me to "Southpaw" and the reasons that I wasn't even sure that I wanted to see it.
I don't rate director Antoine Fuqua ("Training Day", "Tears of the Sun") at all and I find Jake Gyllenhaal great most of the time bit quite dull on occasion too.
So no great pull on the talent really or the genre.
Only a free couple of hours, Rachel McAdams and a cheap ticket sealed the deal.
This occurrence often bears unexpected fruit - it is the same situation that put me in a cinema seat a few years back to watch "Barney's Version" and that paid off royally.
(side note: the review- here- is the most read posting on this site at over 11,000 hits.... I have no idea why but I suspect a certain Rosamund Pike may have a lot to do with it)
But tonight, with no expectations at all I sat in a cinema watching "Southpaw".
A physical transformation by an actor is often used as a selling point and boxing flicks seem to have more than their share of this.
(Again - DeNiro in "Raging Bull", Hilary Swank in "Million Dollar Baby" and Will Smith in "Ali")
In this case it is Jake Gyllenhaal who has undergone a remarkable transformation to play champion boxer Billy Hope ('hope'... get it?).
A human canvas of vein and muscle that sprays blood as he pummels opponents Gyllenhaal outdoes the gym work he put in for his 2010 Prince of Persia flick that saw him increase his female fanbase by about triple.
He certainly looks like he could take up boxing for real.
From the abs, traps and biceps to the fame and adoration Billy Hope has it all- money, cars, a mansion and an adoring wife and daughter.
This being a boxing movie he will of course lose some or maybe all of it.
For fear of spoiling anything I won't say too much here.
I didn't know much going in so on the off chance that you are the same and that the plot isn't already common knowledge let's keep this spoiler free.
"Southpaw" is your basic boxer making a comeback kind of deal.
For the first half hour things look promising.
The opening fight was nicely executed and director Fuqua makes good use of close in shots and first person perspectives.
And yes, I am a sucker for Rachel McAdams who plays Billy's wife Maureen but regardless the chemistry between her and Gyllenhaal had me intrigued as to what was to unfold.
But when the completely expected crash comes it robbed the movie of most of my interest.
 |
| Jake Gyllenhaal - physicality is more impressive than the characterisation |
He is such a... well - loser- that he is very very hard to get behind as he tries to get back his dignity and his life.
Yes- he loses a lot but the fashion in which it happens is unconvincing and the complete lack of respect that I already had for the character meant that I just didn't care about him.
It's not Gyllenhaal's fault.
His performance is fine even if it does rely on the scenes in the ring more than those out of it.
He is performing the role as scripted very well.
However the script makes Billy Hope such an angry, self pitying man that any investment and all sympathy is garnered by the supporting characters rather than he himself.
Young Oona Laurence as his daughter gives a confident, fine performance that I enjoyed very much.
She will appear in the upcoming "Pete's Dragon" opposite Bryce Dallas Howard, Robert Redford and Karl Urban so I am keen to see how she does.
She is clearly very talented.
Her "Southpaw" character I genuinely did care about but it almost works against the movie.
When Billy neglects her horribly as he spirals out of control any remaining tosses that I gave for him vanished.
Luckily Forest Whitaker as his new trainer provided some much needed investment for me.
Again this is down to his performance rather than anything in the script.
His character, like Billy has a distinct lack of characterisation.
There is a very cliched backstory about his boxing career and the tragedy that occurred but I swear that this was lifted right off Morgan Freeman's character from "Million Dollar Baby".
There should be an interesting, believable reason or reasons why he is running a dusty old gym but what is provided is far from it.
All appeal is in the performance here- not the character.
There is such a heavy handedness to "Southpaw" that even a scene in which Billy contemplates suicide seems overblown.
These kinds of moments need subtlety - a careful hand in the direction.
Fuqua surely lacks it and instead shows us the 45 on the bed with Billy hunched over it screaming before loading it.
And then he cuts away to show him leaving the house.
It is all set up and no payoff. What little drama or tension he manages to generate is squandered as we watch Billy reject yet another friend who is merely trying to help.
But we're not done watching him crash yet and there is scene after scene where I just wanted the guy to go back to the bed and stuff the pistol in his mouth and pull the trigger.
That's harsh I know but less than an hour in and that's how little I cared for the main character.
His daughter yes and in time his new trainer but Billy?... Nope.
 |
| Oona Laurence (left), Forest Whitaker and Rachel McAdams (with 50 Cent and Jake Gyllenhaal) |
There is a tendency to overuse some shots that would be best saved for moments requiring the extra impact- first person views and the very close on the shoulder shots for example.
But credit where it is due- Fuqua delivers some effective scenes of biffo.
A lot of dialogue in this film seems either mumbled or lost in a bad sound mix (or maybe a poor cinema presentation?) but the late James Horners score and the sound of glove on flesh is at least well done.
By the time we get to the twenty odd minute finale I did find myself becoming more interested.
The path there might have been walked with little investment and delivered in a very unlikely fashion but when it came time for man vs man on the canvas I did find my interest return some.
I guess that is the appeal in the boxing movie.
When it all comes down to it there is a primal conflict - a spectacle in which there can be only one winner (in movies at least).
Billy's opponent is such an overblown, cliche we have no choice but to root for the loser we have spent so much time with.
"Real Steel" is guilty of the same but it gets away with it by giving us a down and outer that we really want to win because he has earned our admiration.
And Maggie in "Million Dollar Baby" (who is probably second only to Marion Ravenwood as my favourite female movie character) is infinitely more worthy of our love and respect as she takes on her own walking, punching, cheating one dimensional opponent.
Billy Hope on the other hand looks like he really hasn't changed at all.
Sorry to say that the hours in the gym were largely for nothing Jake- this is all brawn and not enough brain.
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