Director: Antoine Fuqua
Cast:Â Jake Gyllenhaal, Rachel McAdams, Naomie Harris, Forest Whitaker, Victor Ortiz, 50 Cent, Rita Ora, Miguel Gomez, Oona Laurence, Beau Knapp, Clare Foley, Skylan Brooks
Rating: 15
Running Time: 124 mins
Release Date: July 24th, 2015
SOUTHPAW arrives with the highest of anticipation and expectation; ever since the first pictures were released of Jake Gyllenhaal‘s muscular transformation for his role as boxer Billy Hope, the film was being touted as a potential Oscar contender for next year, promising another fierce and committed role from Gyllenhaal who was unceremoniously left out from last year’s ‘Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role’ category for his unnerving performance in NIGHTCRAWLER. While he is on fine form, it’s unfortunate that his performance is clouded by an ugly, soulless film that treats its audience with only the tiniest bit of intelligence.
Billy Hope is a man on top of the world, he has money, a beautiful family and an extravagant lifestyle. Undefeated in the ring and the current reigning champion, he’s a combination of pure brute force and unbridled rage. When tragedy strikes and Hope loses everything, including the right to see his daughter, he must start all over again and climb back on top. If that sounds like one big cliche, it is. Every single plot point and character arc is signposted from the beginning, leaving no room for surprise. Characters drop in and out of the screen, popping in only to serve as fodder for Hopes journey to reclaim his title and get his daughter back, never to be seen again once they’ve served their purpose. One non existent character, who has a total of about five lines, is suddenly killed off-screen, with their death only serving as a cheap shortcut for Hope to get back into the ring. SOUTHPAW doesn’t care about its characters or treating the audience with respect, it just wants to beat the hell out of someone.
The film is so in love with its own nihilistic view of the world that it can’t dig up any emotion apart from rage; Jake Gyllenhaal’s performance is, as anticipated, exceptional and he proves to be able to disappear into just about any role someone can throw at him – it’s just a shame that his performance is one that’s in such a disappointing film. SOUTHPAW wants to be an emotional boxing drama and a deep character study at the same time, but its unwillingness to slow down its unrelenting pace and allow any kind of breathing space for its characters proves frustrating, as the film chooses to skip any emotional moments its characters might have in place for flashy training montages.
The film also asks you to root for a man who is despicable, an angry emotional wreck of a person who spends the film trying to convince the judges and the audience that he is fit to look after his daughter, when really we’re given all the evidence that shows he shouldn’t be given her back.
The difference between Billy Hope and Louis Bloom, his character in NIGHTCRAWLER, is that while they were both horrible human beings, Lou had a depth to him that sucked you in, you saw how his mind worked and you came to understand his thinking, even rooted for him to succeed despite him being a sociopath. Hope is just a caricature of every cliche rolled into one, a brute of a man who enjoys nothing more than punching people in the face. We’re suppose to root for Hope but it’s impossible because he’s such a despicable character. The moments when Gyllenhaal is allowed to calm down and just breathe, whether that’s after an emotional visit from his daughter or surveying his large and empty house, the character is tolerable and veers on the interesting.
The film hits hard, but never makes any contact; with a strong central performance from Gyllenhaal, but paper thin characters, lay and uninspired writing and a sour taste to it, SOUTHPAW is a disappointment on every level and as painful to watch as a punch to the face.
Verdict
