Southpaw
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Forest Whitaker, Rachel McAdams, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Oona Laurence
Everyone loves an underdog boxing movie and Jake Gyllenhaal gives a great performance that will move viewers, as well as Forest Whitaker’s strong portrayal as a boxing manager. This is a fine drama.
Director: Antoine Fuqua (2015)
A redemption tale of Billy “The Great” Hope (Gyllenhaal), a professional boxer who appears to have it all as the film opens. He’s the undisputed light heavyweight champion of the world with a beautiful wife, Maureen (McAdams), and young daughter Leila (Laurence). Yet after a nasty fight in which he takes a ton of punishment but wins to run his record to 42-0, he’s taunted and challenged by a young contender, setting off a sequence of events that changes everything.
The contender shows up at a charity event at which Hope makes a speech, and the cocky youngster continues to taunt the champion, following him out to the lobby and initiating an altercation that ends with Maureen accidentally shot and dying in Hope’s arms. Shattered, Hope starts abusing drugs and alcohol, and he’s beaten so badly in his next fight that his manager (Jackson) and longtime trainer abandon him to work with the contender. He then loses Leila to child protective services after running his car into a tree.
With nowhere to go, he eventually takes janitorial job at a musty gym run by former boxer Tick Wills (Whitaker), who Hope eventually wears down and convinces to train him for a comeback fight against the contender, who now holds the title. Meanwhile, he tirelessly works to eventually get his daughter — and his title belts — back.
Opinion/Review: A tad on the predictable side, the film is nonetheless thoroughly entertaining, and Gyllenhaal‘s performance is fantastic, as is that of Whitaker.
Fun Facts: Lawrence was nominated by Washington D.C. Film Critics Association for “Best Youth Performance.” … Eminem was the executive-producer of the movie’s soundtrack, which was released on his Shady Records label and features is lead single “Phenomenal.” … 50 Cent also appears on the album.
