Southpaw. Rated MA15+ (strong violence and coarse language). 124 minutes. Directed by Antoine Fuqua. Screenplay by Kurt Sutter.
Over the years,
the world of boxing has been responsible for a collection of genre and
generation defining performances. From Sylvester Stallone in Rocky (1976), Robert
De Niro in Raging Bull (1980) and Hillary Swank in Million Dollar Baby (2004),
the physically, mentally and emotionally gruelling and highly-disciplined world
in which these modern day gladiators exist, has powered some unforgettable
cinematic experiences.
In Southpaw,
undefeated World Light Heavyweight champion Billy Hope (Jake Gyllenhaal) is
beginning to struggle with the rigours of the sport. Billy’s wife Maureen
(Rachel McAdams) is concerned that he is being hit in the face more often than
he once was, and that their future together with daughter Leila (Oona Laurence)
will be forever scarred by the head injuries he is constantly sustaining.
But when tragedy
strikes at a glittering fundraising gala, Leila is placed into state care and
Billy has only one way of recovering from the devastation. He seeks out the
services of renowned trainer and ex-boxer Titus Wills (Forest Whitaker), who he
hopes will help him win back both the championship and his beloved daughter.
Sutter’s central
trainer/boxing star relationship suffers by comparison to Million Dollar Baby’s
extraordinary Clint Eastwood/Hillary Swank combination, and Whitaker (who won
the Best Actor Oscar for his performance as Idi Amin in The Last King of
Scotland) gets nothing to sink his teeth into.
Fuqua’s (Training
Day, The Equalizer) fearless, probing direction delivers some fantastic
in-the-moment and in-your-face, literally, sequences. But even with Gyllenhaal’s
towering performance as the deeply-flawed Billy, Sutter’s (Sons of Anarchy)
surprisingly unadventurous screenplay struggles to shine in the long shadow of
its vastly superior siblings.
This review was
commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.
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