SOUTHPAW – The Review

Ever since two men slipped on gloves and sparred in a squared space, boxing has been a popular subject for mass media. I mean it’s a perfect venue, one man battling another, for everything from the legitimate theatre (the stage classic “Golden Boy”) and comic strips (“Joe Palooka” was a media sensation). But it seems to have been tailor-made for cinema, since it can cross over from “sports flick” to many other genres. It’s been a setting for laughs with screen comedians from Buster Keaton to Kevin James dancing about the canvas (plus THE MAIN EVENT was a boxing “rom com”). And there are boxing biographies from GENTLEMAN JIM to ALI. One modestly-budgeted 1976 smash turned into a huge franchise with ROCKY (which will soon continue with CREED). But boxing’s biggest impact may be in prestige dramas, with Wallace Beery earning an Oscar as THE CHAMP to the multi-winners (including Best Picture) RAGING BULL and MILLION DOLLAR BABY. Time to add another drama to the mix with SOUTHPAW in which the title characters doesn’t fight for fame and fortune, but to re-unite with his daughter. Yes, it’s a boxing, child custody, family drama!

A great many boxing flicks tell a rags to riches story, with a young underdog struggling to get a shot at the title. This story takes an opposite approach. As the film begins, Billy Hope (Jake Gyllenhaal) is the undisputed light heavyweight champion of the world. He’s married to the gorgeous Maureen (Rachel McAdams). They both grew up without families and met when they were in the foster care system. Oh, and they’ve started their own family with sweet ten year-old Leila (Oona Laurence). All’s right with the world as Billy takes out another contender. The night is nearly spoiled when a rising young star of the ring ‘Magic” Escobar (Miguel Gomez) shows up to taunt Billy (“why you duckin’ me, champ?”) at the post game press conference. But Billy’s smooth manager Jordan (Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson), along with Maureen tell Billy to ignore the upstart (“not his time yet”). But it doesn’t end there. Later, outside a charity dinner, the fighters exchange words in the hotel lobby. Tensions escalate, fists fly, and each fighter’s security team draw their weapons. Shots ring out, and Billy suffers a devastating tragedy. This sends him into a downward spiral, eventually losing his lavish home and possessions, his title (he’s banned from pro boxing), and his daughter. After a drunk driving crash, the court places Leila into the foster system (just like her parents). Billy returns to his rough old neighborhood and asks the owner of a local fight gym, ‘Tick’ Willis (Forest Whitaker) for a job. Reluctantly Willis agrees. Later Billy pleads with him to become his trainer. The only way to get his beloved Leila back to him, is to climb his way back into the ring and prove to the courts that he can provide a proper home. This is one fight that Billy cannot lose.

Once again, Gyllenhaal bring intense dedication to a very different kind of role (he’s quite the chameleon). In the ring Billy seems like a beast who just burst out of his cage, roaring so loud his mouth guard can become a projectile. He ignores the blood (seems that right eye opens pretty fast), and never gives in to the pain. When the big loss occurs, it’s as if his spirit leaves his body. We want to try to jostle him back to reality. Unfortunately, out of the ring, Gyllenhaal eases into street “pug” mode, echoing Brando’s Terry Malloy too often. His scenes with young Leila do show a kind, tender side, while his pillow talk with Maureen reveal a playful, sexy side. But when he’s taunted too long, she can’t restrain him. McAdams is the beauty that tries to sooth the beast in a role that shows her as both glamorous and as a tender, caring matriarch. The real discovery may be the stellar performance by Laurence. When Daddy messes up, her seething glare cuts Billy more than any roundhouse blow. And she really looks like her on-screen parents (a rarity). Warning: she’s a true heart-breaker. Jackson may seem like a dapper dandy as manager Jordan, but he’s a cobra in dandy duds, who will strike at any sign of weakness. Whitaker is effective and believable as the typical grizzled old pugilist. There’s a real sadness in his heavy-lidded eyes as he ponders the ex-champ’s motives. Naomie Harris (SKYFALL) is also good as a sympathetic child advocate, but (from the film’s TV spots) it appears that much of her role was cut from the final version.

Director Antoine Fuqua continues to have a great knack for down and out, gritty characters and locales, bringing a real vitality to the boxing sequences. We’re right up close with the combatants, even facing them in many POV shots, making us feel as if we’ll get sprayed with the blood and sweat. But the emotional scenes are just as hard-hitting, especially when Billy comes up against a opponent he can’t punch: the court system. And then there’s the equally brutal scenes of attempted revenge that just never seem to fill Billy’s empty heart. Those sequences from the screenplay by Kurt Sutter (best known for the acclaimed cable TV drame “Sons of Anarchy”) avoid many boxing film clichés. But , everything does culminate in the big match that still keeps us on the edge of our seats, despite a few flights of fancy (really the refs would’ve stopped it at a couple of points). Yes, we’ve seen this type of fight story before, but it’s the family dynamic that will make you root for SOUTHPAW.

3.5 Out of 5