Critically acclaimed director, Antoine Fuqua returns to the silver screen that stars Jake Gyllenhaal as a professional champion boxer who loses everything in one night. ‘Southpaw’ tells the riveting story of Billy “The Great” Hope, reigning Junior Middleweight Boxing Champion of the World (Gyllenhaal). Billy Hope seemingly has it all with an impressive career, a beautiful and loving wife (Rachel McAdams), an adorable daughter (Oona Laurence) and a lavish lifestyle. When tragedy strikes and his lifelong manager and friend (Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson) leaves him behind, Hope hits rock bottom and turns to an unlikely savior at a run down local gym; Tick Willis (Forest Whitaker), a retired fighter and trainer to the city’s toughest amateur boxers. With his future riding on Tick’s guidance, Billy enters the hardest battle of his life as he struggles with redemption and to win back the trust of those he loves. There is a lot to enjoy about this film. From Fuqua’s hard hitting cinematography that offers an up close and impactful feel to the action going on in the ring, to the gritty and moving dramatic free for all’s that his characters go through when they fall from grace. Antoine is a director who knows how to get the most out of every situation, even if that situation sometimes feels overdone. What gives this film it’s originality despite boxing films being an every year thing, is the step by step process that Hope goes through. It’s something that could happen to anyone realistically, and it’s in that realism that we see a lot of ourselves in these defeated characters. The film stays on the downtrodden for a majority of the nearly two hour run time, and i personally didn’t have a problem with that. My problem was more in the uneven feeling of cliches used during the last act of the movie that felt opposite of a mentality in the first half of the movie where anything could happen. It’s in that final half hour where the movie really loses a lot of it’s steam because you know where it’s going, while leaving a lot of questions unanswered. I feel like the case behind McAdams death was kind of left on the cutting room floor without much attention to the consequences from one wild night in New York City. The acting is above all else spectacular, with Gyllenhaal and Whitaker really giving the audience something different that crafts these three dimensional characters. Jake went through a gym lifestyle makeover to play this part, and it’s one of the many reasons i have always enjoyed his character acting. We see such tremendous effects that life in the ring has played on his psyche outside of the ring. He’s not a character who is perfect in the decisions that he makes, and that’s what makes him so worthwhile for following. I did hate his last name in the film. Most people won’t have a problem with it, but it took me out of the movie everytime it’s mentioned on screen. Why not just call him Billy Fighter? Practical enough? One impressive aspect was the acting of 13 year old actress Laurence. She adds so much to the motivations of Billy, and is the one thing that he can’t run from long after he feels like he has healed inside. Oona has such a wide range for her age, and it was impressive to see her dramatic tones in a way that never overexceeded how a child should act. Overall, i would recommend this movie for everyone. The boxing plot (believe it or not) is such a small part of what’s really going on here. It’s a movie about family being the only thing left when the lights go off, the cameras stop rolling, and the people forget your name in a world that finds a new celebrity every ten minutes. ‘Southpaw’ is a champion in a summer of dramatic duds.

7/10