Southpaw (FILM REVIEW)
Southpaw
Film
Review
by Kam Williams
Ex-Champ Mounts Comeback in Bittersweet
Boxing Tale of Redemption
Billy
Hope (Jake Gyllenhaal)
surmounted incredible odds en route to becoming the World Light
Heavyweight Boxing Champ. After all, his prospects weren't exactly
brilliant, given how he'd been abandoned by his mother at birth.
But
he was lucky enough to meet Maureen (Rachel
McAdams) while they were being
raised in an orphanage
in New York's Hell's Kitchen.
For, the two would not only fall madly in love but
she would serve as the rock who kept his nose clean after a couple of
brief stints behind bars.
As
Billy worked his way up the boxing ranks, the
childhood sweethearts married
and had a daughter, Leila (Oona
Laurence). And Maureen
repeatedly inspired her husband to climb into the ring to channel his
aggression positively, rather than entertain any ideas of blowing off
steam in self-destructive fashion.
By
the time his record reached 43-0, Billy and family family were living
beyond their means in a gaudy McMansion where they conspicuously
consumed the trappings of the nouveau riche: the flashy cars, the
gaudy bling, the expensive champagne, and so forth. However, between
his parasitic entourage and a shady money manager, Jordan Mains (50
Cent), it was also readily apparent that he'd have to keep winning
bouts to maintain the decadent lifestyle.
Sure
enough, in the wake of a terrible personal tragedy, Billy did lose
the title belt and, faster than a Don King haircut, found himself
broke and back on the rough streets he'd worked so hard to escape.
Abandoned by his hangers-on and by his fair-weather manager for the
#1 contender (Miguel Gomez), he ends up at a gym in Harlem run by
Tick Willis (Forest Whitaker), an irascible trainer reminiscent of
the character played by Burgess Meredith in Rocky. The salty veteran
on the verge of retirement reluctantly agrees to take on the
reclamation project on the condition that the brawler's willing to
add a little finesse to his pugilistic repertoire.
F.
Scott Fitzgerald famously once uttered, “There are no second acts
in American lives.” Well, he obviously never met Billy Hope who
endeavors to make the most of a shot at redemption in Southpaw.
Directed
by Antoine Fuqua, the film features yet another nonpareil performance
by Jake Gyllenhaal who deserved Academy Award nominations for both
Nightcrawler (2014) and Prisoners (2013). He is again nothing short
of mesmerizing, here, as a desperate, deposed, disgraced champ on an
appointed mission to reclaim his throne and his fortune.
Gyllenhaal
floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee in an Oscar-quality
tour de force!
Excellent (4
stars)
Rated R
for violence and pervasive profanity
Running
time: 123 minutes
Distributor: The Weinstein Company
To see a trailer for Southpaw,
visit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBBi02IXlbw
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