And at long last, we’ve come to the end of Southpaw week here at The Nerd Punch. Its been a lot of fun, and I believe that I speak for all of the writers when I say that we got to do a couple of things that were new and exciting during it. As I mentioned earlier in the week, boxing and combat sports aren’t exactly my forte (I fight for love, more than I love to fight), but reading the other guys’ pieces has been a blast. If you haven’t had a chance to look at any of it yet, I heartily encourage you to click over there real quick before I start rambling on about whatever it is that I’m talking about.
Now let’s get to the movie, shall we? Great! I’m going to say right off the bat that this might get a bit into Spoiler Territory. Personally, I don’t think that these are going to be big revelations since they are basically the movie’s plot, but if you are looking to go into the theater completely unfamiliar with what’s going on, you might want to skip the rest of this paragraph. Southpaw is a film by director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) staring Jake Gyllenhaal as Billy Hope, the Light Heavyweight Champion of the World. When his wife (Rachel McAdams) is killed in a brawl between him and a fellow boxer, his life spirals downward resulting in the loss of his titles, fortune, and even his daughter (Oona Laurence). He teams up with trainer Tick Wills (Forest Whitaker) to try and stabilize his universe, and in the process, he is given a chance to fight the man who started the fatal kerfuffle and win back his belt. End of the Spoiler-y Stuff.
Southpaw has one of the oddest story structures that I have ever seen. Its a pretty standard rags-to-riches redemption tale, but you don’t see a lot of those that begin with the hero having a seemingly ungodly amount of wealth. Seriously, dude is an undefeated boxing Champ, he’s making it rain for days! Add to that a gorgeous, devoted wife and a perfect daughter and he’s just got life going for him. I also find it weird that this beginning section of the movie lasts forever. It takes a shockingly long time for the “rags” part of the film to kick in, and that’s what really gives Southpaw a slightly confusing feel to it’s pacing. The riches-to-rags-to-riches structure also lends it the bearing of a parable, most notably the Biblical story of Job*. All of this contributes to a movie that just never quite hits it’s mark. Sometimes its a gritty tale of poverty, sometimes its opulence porn, sometimes its something akin to a fairytale. A consistent tone remains just out of reach, and is somewhat unsatisfying.
Having said all that you would be forgiven if you were to say something like, “Welp, Ole Davey Boy over here hates this bullshit. Look’s like his whole site just spent a week stumping for the worst movie of 2015. Let’s burn them all in effigy!” Why would you say that!?!? That’s incredibly rude and, like, really mean. I’m genuinely hurt 🙁 And what’s more, you didn’t even let me finish. Southpaw is a good movie. Maybe its not the best boxing film ever made, or the best of the year, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t kick a little bit of butt. Gyllenhaal turns in his usual outstanding performance, although he is often outdone by an INCREDIBLE showing from the young actress, Laurence. This girl kills every scene she’s in. Don’t be surprised if you see a lot of her in the coming years.
In addition to that, this apparently featured some fantastic fight choreography. Personally, I couldn’t tell a good looking boxing match from two giraffes whipping their necks at each other, but according to my fellow TNP writer/date for the evening Jason Yoakam**, everything was on point and felt real. He also admitted to tearing up a bit, but don’t hold that against him because, let’s be honest, I did too at certain moments. Also, here’s some giraffes fighting, because, screw it.
When we started Southpaw Week, I was a bit apprehensive. I though this could all go down the shitter if the central film didn’t turn out very well. Thankfully for all of us, Fuqua and company held up their end of the bargain and kept us from looking like the idiots that we are. Thanks for that Southpaw! And thank you for a cool movie-going experience!
*See Mom, I didn’t completely waste my Catholic education!
**He only let me get to first base, unfortunately. Say what you will about Jason, but he is a classy lady, if nothing else.
