I know why a lot of people will not like Southpaw. It's a "boxing movie." There's a lot of cliches all over it, and when you get down to it, the film is not original at all. But the film subverts these cliches, and does it well because of the people working on it. Southpaw is about exactly what you think it is about. It's a boxing movie. There's a boxer who gets down on his luck, and then has to do a climactic fight. That's it. I can't really say more because you know exactly where this is going, but as said before, I still liked the film because of the way the people who worked on it bring it up. The first thing I would like to highlight is Antoine Fuqua. I think I once mentioned in The Equalizer review that Fuqua's direction style is not particularly interesting, but that's ok because good actors can build performances off of them. Denzel Washington did it twice in Training Day and The Equalizer, and Jake Gyllenhaal did it here — but back to Fuqua. Southpaw seems to prove me wrong in my conception of Fuqua's style. The boxing scenes in Southpaw are exhilarating, with the camera making nice use of still shots, and slow motion. There's a ferocity to the camerawork that fits the mood of the fight perfectly. It's definitely Fuqua's best work to date, and it's really insane to watch. But another reason that these fights work is that the actors sell the hell out of the whole film. Jake Gyllenhaal is back after Nightcrawler, and his physical appearance has taken a 180. He was skinny, and creepy in that film, and now he's buff as all hell. He's just as intense though, and much like Washington in The Equalizer, is great in his subtle touches. He very subtly creates a man who has anger issues, and is getting help from his wife to keep it under control. Rachel McAdams is great as his wife for as long as she's in the movie, and Oona Lawrence is really a new talent in the film business as Gyllenhaal's daughter. However, even with all the great stuff that comes with the actors, and the direction, the thing that I liked most about Southpaw is the way it subverts some of the cliches that it encounters. There's one scene where an older seasoned character, played by Forrest Whitaker, tells a story of why he left boxing. Then I realized, "Oh my gosh that was from Million Dollar Baby." But a few lines later he reveals he was lying, and I was both chuckling and clapping. Yes, Southpaw seem cliched, but it has fun with them and with its intense performances and direction, the film turns out much better than it could have been. I give Southpaw an 8 out of 10. THE TRAILER TO THIS MOVIE GIVES AWAY TO MUCH SO I HAVE NOT PUT IT DOWN HERE.
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December 2017
CategoriesAuthorHello welcome to FilmAnalyst. My name is Stephen Tronicek, and I really like movies. This is a way to get my opinions out to people. Thank you for visiting. |