Films about professional boxers are a well-established genre, having a built-in narrative trajectory with the potential for a climactic bout. Boxing movies are often based on real-life pugilists. By contrast, Southpaw involves a fictional character, Billy Hope (Jake Gyllenhaal), who has attained the junior middleweight championship. Is the protagonist’s surname sufficiently metaphorical for you?
Billy’s childhood was spent in the social welfare system. He met his childhood sweetheart, Maureen (Rachel McAdams), in a group home. Now, the two are married and have a young school-aged daughter, Leila (Oona Lawrence). They live in a sprawling mansion and maintain a lavish lifestyle.
As the film opens, Billy has defended his belt for the fourth time; however, he barely ekes out a decision. His boxing style totally dispenses with any scintilla of defense, so his matches devolve into all-out slugfests. As a result of all the blows to the head he has sustained, Billy is now starting to show signs of having sustained neurological damage. His concerned wife begs him to retire.
At the post-bout press conference, Billy’s subpar performance is questioned by a dubious sportswriter. Suddenly, the proceedings are interrupted by a Latino contender, Miguel Escobar (Miguel Gómez). He accuses Billy of ducking him. Why won’t Billy give him a fight? Is he afraid? Miguel’s wife, who is sitting on the dais, demands to know who this outspoken pugilist is. Excuse me, but who are you, missy? Have you ever seen the spouse of a boxer participating in a press conference? I sure haven’t. This vignette is a portent of the film’s fundamental lack of verisimilitude.
On the way out of a charity fundraiser, Billy is again confronted by Escobar. The aspiring adversary resumes his needling. He accuses Billy of being a gutless coward. Will the champion succumb to the verbal taunts? When Escobar threatens to beat up Billy and then have sex with his wife, a brawl breaks out. A gun is pulled and Maureen is accidentally shot to death in the resulting melee.
For the film, Gyllenhaal has transformed his body into a remarkably well-toned, lean, mean, fighting machine. If only his acting in the film was nearly as impressive. Instead, Gyllenhaal turns in a performance that is method acting taken to the extreme, plagued by a litany of nervous tics and verbal stutters. The film never makes clear whether the character is mentally handicapped or has been rendered permanently punch drunk. Gyllenhaal was brilliantly original in his last role as a sociopathic cameraman in Nightcrawler, which makes his portrayal here particularly disappointing.
Director Antoine Fuqua helmed the widely lauded Training Day, which won an Academy Award for Denzel Washington as a corrupt cop. Since then, Fuqua has directed a series of mediocrities, including King Arthur, Olympus Has Fallen and The Equalizer. Southpaw marks the continued downward direction of Fuqua’s career.
Screenwriter Kurt Sutter makes his feature debut with this film. His résumé consists entirely of scripts for FX’s “The Shield” and “Sons of Anarchy.” His screenplay is a hopelessly melodramatic regurgitation of hackneyed clichés from the hoary genre of boxing films.
Southpaw
*1/2
Jake Gyllenhaal
Rachel McAdams
Directed by Antone Fuqua
Rated R
