Southpaw

Boxing films are notoriously hard to pull off.  They can go from the sublime to the ridiculous very easily, as director’s try to capture the frantic nature of the sport.  The truth is that the best boxing films don’t focus on the sport itself, but the people involved in it.  Which is exactly what Southpaw tries to do.

Billy Hope (Jake Gyllenhaal) is on top of the world.  A champion boxer, he’s undefeated and going strong.  He has a beautiful wife, a smart daughter and a huge house.  All that comes crashing down when his wife is killed in a tragic accident.  In the aftermath he goes off the rails, loses the house, the belt and even his daughter.

There’s been a lot said about Gyllenhaal’s appearance in this film, having bulked up following his role in Nightcrawler.   While he does look great, his performance is even better.  He makes this film and he gets across the many contradictions of Billy Hope.  In the ring he’s a warrior, adhering to that classic boxing movie tactic of letting the opposition punch him in the face loads before a late comeback, but out of it he’s anything but.  He’s a big child and when his wife is taking from him he quite frankly becomes pathetic.  Gyllenhaal portrays both sides of that brilliantly and you feel for Hope, despite his many faults.

Sadly, the film doesn’t match up to this performance.  It’s a by the numbers redemption story and you could sit down after the first ten minutes and fairly accurately sketch out Hope’s journey.  There’s also the issue that his fall from grace seems to be over just that bit quickly.  When his daughter is taken from him it all seems a bit rushed and it feels incredibly harsh considering only ten minutes before we were watching this man’s wife die.  By speeding through his descent, it makes his rise seem all the more inevitable.

The supporting cast does their job well on the whole.  50 Cent is the obvious weak spot though, as Billy’s money loving manager.  The guy’s just not that great an actor and surrounded by more talented people he is left behind.  Forest Whitaker’s boxing coach Tick Wills is about as stereotypical boxing coach as you can get, but he fills the role well.  While in her short time in the film Rachel McAdam’s helps to give Hope a human side as his wife, Maureen.

The problem is that Southpaw ends up all feeling a bit over the top.  It’s such a simple story that you can’t help feeling it’s just a bit ridiculous.  Gyllenhaal’s performance isn’t enough to keep it above cliché and it fails to add itself to the boxing movie greats.  However, that performance is good enough that it is worth your time, as it ultimately becomes a film that is carried on the shoulders of one man and fails to live up to his incredible showing.