By Dominick Ferrara V
No sport lends itself to drama and great storytelling more than boxing. The two best sports films of all time, according to AFI, are both boxing films (Raging Bull and Rocky). No wonder there are three different boxing movies coming out this year. With “Bleed For This” and the highly-anticipated “Creed” coming out later this year, it’s time for the first of these boxing films. With a star that is turning in the best work of his career in recent years and a prolific director, SOUTHPAW was pegged as a potential Oscar contender, due to the pedigree of boxing films and its star. But does SOUTHPAW live up to those expectations?
No, it doesn’t. That doesn’t mean that its not a good film.
The screenplay, notable for the screenwriting debut of “Sons of Anarchy” creator Kurt Sutter, was initially written as a vehicle for Eminem, and it shows. Even after casting Jake Gyllenhaal, fresh off a brilliant performance in “Nightcrawler,” the screenplay still feels as though it was written for an actor that is not of Gyllenhaal’s character. It is a predictable, paint-by-numbers boxing film, hitting all the major points beat by beat. You can combine plot points of all six Rocky films and you would have this movie.
Even with a paint-by-numbers screenplay, Gyllenhaal once again turns in a phenomenal performance that makes the film. I would even venture to say that his performance is better than the film itself. Right after wrapping production on “Nightcrawler,” Gyllenhaal went to work on training and bulking up for the role of Billy Hope, going from skinny in “Nightcrawler,” to jacked in SOUTHPAW. This transformation forces you to buy into the character and the performance, which Gyllenhaal has used to perfection in his last four films (not counting “Accidental Love,” since that was shot in 2008). His performance in SOUTHPAW continues to cement himself as one of the great actors of our time.
Forest Whitaker is surprisingly the comic relief of the film. He does a great job bringing emotion and humor to his role, as his lines had the entire theater laughing. Rachel McAdams does a great job in limited screen time, as she and Gyllenhaal exhibit great chemistry. Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson delivers a solid performance and you buy him in his role, which is hard for a rapper to do while acting. Another bright spot in the film is the performance of young Oona Laurence as Billy Hope’s daughter. Laurence delivers a performance well beyond her years and is able to make you buy her emotional reactions to the traumatic events that take place in the film. She is a young actress to watch for in upcoming years.
Director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, The Equalizer) gives this film a very hip-hop feel, which may have carried over from the time that Eminem was attached to the film. He shoots the boxing scenes fairly well, mixing Rocky-style boxing cinematography and HBO Boxing presentation to bring us some of the best boxing scenes of recent years. He was able to get very good performances out of Gyllenhaal and the rest of the cast despite a screenplay that lacks unpredictability.
Also worth mentioning is the score, one of the last completed scores by the late James Horner. The score is wonderful, and the film was dedicated in his honor.
Overall, SOUTHPAW is a solid film, even without a good screenplay. Jake Gyllenhaal’s performance is one of the best of the year so far, and you buy him as a championship boxer. The film’s hip-hop tone has its pros and cons. The performances are solid across the board, however this leads to the fact that the performances are better than the film. This isn’t a film made for critics, but the film will strike a chord with general audiences, as the audience in my screening last night left the theater raving about the film.
FINAL SCORE: 7/10
Have you seen SOUTHPAW? If so, what did you think of the film? Comment below and let me know!
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