Southpaw

Simply said, when the actor and director are on completely different level in terms of quality. While Gyllenhaal’s performance is brilliant and he is even "aiming for Oscar", Fuqua only makes just another everyday consumer version of the thousand-times-seen boxing B-movie melodrama, in which perhaps all genre clichés are present; just often in a non-functional style. It also strangely tends to fade away, because it starts with by far the best scene and then it only gets worse especially after falling to the bottom, when the true values are revealed and the after getting at its height again. It's kind of sad when the opening match has a driving force, energy and charge and the final one has nothing. It holds together only thanks to Gyllenhaal’s performance, but as I mentioned, his excellent performance seems almost inappropriate in this movie. (22/07/2015)

The narrative structure is a bit inconsistent, as after a strangely rushed and overstuffed first half, the story basically "starts from scratch". Anyway, with the arrival of Forest Whitaker on the scene, Southpaw spills into its better half. It's not necessarily his acting (he's playing his standard), rather that he has an extremely audience-rewarding "mentor" role here. Perhaps the only thing worth mentioning from the first half of the film is the opening fight, which is beautifully and evocatively shot. Everything else in the first hour felt too superficial and overwrought. The second half is a lot more believable and elevates the final impression to slightly above average. (24/03/2019)

Why does everybody give Southpaw three stars? Because it’s fine in terms of craftsmanship, it has quite a few emotionally tense moments, the ring scenes are very naturalistic thanks to the contact camerawork, and the two outstanding actors, Jake Gyllenhaal and Forest Whitaker, wring their talents to the last drop of sweat and blood. But why only three stars? Because nothing happens that we wouldn’t have expected in advance today (the only seemingly surprising twist is revealed in the distributor's blurb). After all, "fine in terms of craftsmanship" today is any project with such budget and cast, and then if we were to put this film’s level of emotion on some imaginary ring facing Warrior, the mentally unstable champion Billy Hope, his cliché-ridden sporting and moral reboot, and the routine Uncle Fugua would all walk away ignominiously defeated by a painful knockout. Good ol’ three stars… ;) (16/09/2015)

It’s a more expensive and bloated Million Dollar Baby with the opposite sex in the lead role, and the injury, instead of physical, is psychological. Fuqua fits into the mainstream much more than Eastwood, so where Clint meticulously crafted scenes with slow piano, dull sounds of punches, and masterful camera capturing the gray gym, Fuqua goes for it with loud hip-hop and jerky editing. Maybe it might sound like a criticism, but it isn't. Fuqua has worked hard recently, found a good dramaturge, and although he still has a boring and ordinary screenwriter, both Equalizer and Southpaw naturally generate emotions in the viewer. And so I can confidently say that Southpaw is the director's most mature and complete film in every aspect since Training Day, and I can easily add a second parallel: a similarly expressive main character who carries the whole film on his shoulders as in the Oscar-winning hit, but this time it’s the trainer vs. apprentice. Forest Whitaker is undoubtedly the best character of the film, but Jake Gyllenhaal could win prestigious awards with his explicit acting and physically demanding role. Surprisingly, Southpaw is authentic, sincere, and raw enough through all its clichés, predictability, and simple narrative storytelling of dreams, falls, rises, and finding the right values, to entertain not only a simple consumer but also someone who wants a bit more from a film, is willing to overlook the classic drawbacks of big productions and get drawn into it. (24/07/2015)

I simply enjoy boxing movies and I feel that it's difficult to make one that is truly bad. This one is not great, but it has great locations and you can see that Fuqua knows how to shoot a great scene, not only action-packed but also sporty. Some shots from the ring are just fantastic, even though in the emotional aspect, it's somewhat one-dimensional. (10/09/2015)