Monday 29 February 2016

Southpaw (2015) 7/10

Starring : Jake Gyllenhaal, Forest Whitaker, Naomie Harris, Curtis ‘50 Cent’ Jackson, Oona Laurence, Rachel McAdams
Director : Antoine Fuqua
Running Time : 124 mins

Bill Hope (Gyllenhaal) is a famed boxer, undefeated in his weight class. After suffering an injury to his eye, his wife Maureen (McAdams) tries to convince him to retire, but he is provoked into fighting another match by a rival for a charity event, where his wife is shot to death. As he becomes depressed following her death, he starts losing fights and attacks a referee, which leads to him being suspended from fighting and losing his daughter Leila (Laurence) to social services. So Billy finds himself on a journey to prove he is good enough to take care of his daughter, and also to make back the money and prestige he has lost.

The first half hour or so of this was actually pretty boring an obvious, until Hope’s wife is killed. Then we have a much more interesting story of him trying to turn his life around after spiralling out of control. There are some genuine poignant moments, sometimes spoiled by below par performances from the likes of Jackson and, even at some points, Gyllenhaal, though his ability to channel the spirit of Rocky Balboa was hilarious.

You’ll like this if you liked : The Fighter


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