Southpaw

Weinstein Company, The | Release Date: July 24, 2015

7.7	USER SCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 425 Ratings

USER RATING DISTRIBUTION

Watch Now

Stream On

Buy on

Stream On

Expand

Review this movie

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Please sign in or create an account before writing a review.

Check box if your review contains spoilers

0 characters (5000 max)

User Reviews

User score By date Most helpful

salamancaJul 31, 2015

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The premise of this movie certainly showed some promise. Jake Gyllenhaal's performance was great. But man oh man. The writing is where this movie took the biggest hit.

Southpaw is emotionally manipulative to a serious fault. Terrible events happen one after another, and characters offer little to no comic relief to pad the otherwise unbelievable melodrama. More often than not, the writing doesn't land where it's supposed to. It ranges from cruel to unrealistic to downright laughable at times.

The film spends so much energy trying to make audiences cry, even when it makes absolutely no sense for the characters. There is one cringeworthy scene between Gyllenhaal and his daughter, where just when it looks like his daughter will reconcile with her father and go to one of his boxing matches, she absolutely flips out when he says he's not allowed to bring her there. She starts slapping him over and over again, and even goes as far as saying "I wish it had been YOU that got killed. Not mom." Uhm... Holy s***. Talk about out of left field.

Unfortunately it was at this point that the movie started to unravel for me. I started to realize how senselessly sad the movie was trying to be without any real logic or reason for doing so. One, or even a few tragedies back to back make sense and stay well within the bounds of realism. But when every single scene is trying to be exploitative with no logic or reason for doing so, and there's no comic relief to lessen the depth of despair on-screen, it starts to come apart. By the time Forest Whitaker revealed that one of his young trainees died, I was so disengaged that I could only chuckle to myself about the pointless tragedy being shoved down my throat.

All the melodrama could've been at least mildly forgiven if the payoff at the end was substantial. But even the end is relatively anticlimactic, tying an unrewarding bow on top of an already disheveled package.

Don't go see this movie unless you're all for manipulative writing and pointless sadness. If you love those things, you'll love this movie.… Expand

4 of 4 users found this helpful40

All this user's reviews

jferOct 6, 2015

So, how come in this "Southpaw" movie the first thing you notice is that the boxer have no southpaw stance? Am I wrong or what?? For me it was dissapointing from the very beginning of the film, didn´t even finish watching it.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

All this user's reviews

BroyaxNov 9, 2020

Il s’agit grosso merdo d’une mauvaise copie d’un Rocky (plutôt le troisième du nom, je dirais) mais avec une grosse couche pas fraiche de guimauve défraichie et maladroite. Ainsi, ce boxeur au faite de sa gloire se retrouve-t-il à la suiteIl s’agit grosso merdo d’une mauvaise copie d’un Rocky (plutôt le troisième du nom, je dirais) mais avec une grosse couche pas fraiche de guimauve défraichie et maladroite. Ainsi, ce boxeur au faite de sa gloire se retrouve-t-il à la suite d’évènements amenés très maladroitement eux aussi (mais qui a écrit des conneries pareilles, on se le demande) tout en bas de l’échelle, accablé par le malheur…

Alors (et la suite est toute écrite et toute prévisible) avec sa rage, il va remonter la pente et revenir sur le devant de la scène… après un entraînement à l’ancienne avec un vieux con pontifiant (Forest Whitaker… qui ne court pas). Jake Gyllenhaal est certes un bon acteur mais il surjoue un peu trop ici, la faute à son personnage caricatural qui ne vaut certainement pas le si sympathique et simplet mais très attachant Rocky de jadis…!

Il faut dire en outre que si les combats sont fort bien filmés, ils sont hélas dilués dans pas mal de longueurs (et de guimauve à deux dollars) avant et après chacun d’eux. Par ailleurs, comme dit plus avant, difficile de croire à ce tissu de conneries qui veut se faire passer pour un scénario digne de ce nom… or, il ne reste qu’un scénar indigne et surtout un pur scénar de nanar mais ici avec plus d’argent que d’habitude ! bref, c’est vraiment très mauvais !… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

All this user's reviews

sanserifJul 29, 2015

I walked into the movie without expectations... It was pretty bad. I started falling asleep. I know it's a boxing movie and it's range is pretty limited in terms of story beats. But c'mon, it was pretty boring. The script just didn't have anyI walked into the movie without expectations... It was pretty bad. I started falling asleep. I know it's a boxing movie and it's range is pretty limited in terms of story beats. But c'mon, it was pretty boring. The script just didn't have any meat to it. Everything Forrest Whitaker said was really trite and there was no profound, inspiring moment to take away. The final thing he says to inspire Jake Gyllenhaal was something to the effect of 'Now go beat his ass!'. Not sure if the coaches really inspire boxers like that but... ugh. That kind of writing is not worth my money. TV has better writing these days.

However - Props to Jake Gyllenhaal for the transformation. He plays a great 'jock'. Too bad the film felt really uninspired.… Expand

3 of 4 users found this helpful31

All this user's reviews

mboner1Sep 6, 2015

Predictable hollywood trash over acted by 2 of the most overrated actors going around in jake Gyllenhaal and forest whitaker. I would be surprised if anyone got fooled in to caring about any of the paper thin characters in this movie. Terrible.

3 of 7 users found this helpful34

All this user's reviews

MadMaxFuryRoad2Nov 22, 2015

Could not even get through this movie, even with Jake Gyllenhaal's abs all in the screen. If you want a boxing movie, there are at least 3 that are worth watching before even giving this one a passing glance. Watch Edison's old movies of catsCould not even get through this movie, even with Jake Gyllenhaal's abs all in the screen. If you want a boxing movie, there are at least 3 that are worth watching before even giving this one a passing glance. Watch Edison's old movies of cats boxing before this one. Just play Eminem over it and it's so much better than this trash pile.… Expand

3 of 9 users found this helpful36

All this user's reviews

foxgroveJul 29, 2015

Southpaw is the title, but very poor is the verdict of this seen it all before boxing movie which is an over long bore. Harvey Weinstein has gone on record as saying that this is the movie that will win Star Jake Gyllenhaal an Oscar. However,Southpaw is the title, but very poor is the verdict of this seen it all before boxing movie which is an over long bore. Harvey Weinstein has gone on record as saying that this is the movie that will win Star Jake Gyllenhaal an Oscar. However, Gyllenhaal is so badly let down by a dire script that hangs out every cliché known to the boxing movie genre, that I don’t believe any self- respecting Academy member would allow that to happen. In truth Gyllenhaal is fine, and definitely the best thing about the overwrought melodrama that this is, but his performance is no classic in the making. The film is essentially a paint by numbers exercise where the direction is uneven at best and laboured at worst. Director Antoine Fuqua (now there’s a name to conjure with) prolongs almost every scene beyond endurance. The first half an hour is a lot of talk and the film only starts to get to grips with a semblance of a storyline following a fatal shooting. From here on in cliché follows cliché as the film tries to out- do ‘Rocky’ with no success. Basically this is about a boxer falling from the top to the bottom, losing his daughter along the way and doing everything to get both her and his successful boxing career back to the original status quo. The awful script is manipulative and there are many emotional moments for anyone buying into this predictable rubbish. The scenes with the daughter are squirm inducing, especially the one in which she keeps slapping her father for letting her down. Even the climatic fight is drained of any tension as one knows the outcome due to the obvious nature of the film. Subtlety surprise or originality are nowhere to be found here. The editing also misses a trick and it is rare for a fight scene to be so singularly lacking any tension or power. Overall this is film making at its worst. Commercial, unoriginal and just plain dull.… Expand

2 of 6 users found this helpful24

All this user's reviews

Luke9648Mar 3, 2023

As an actual lifelong boxing fan, i think this movie is absolutely terrible. Jake got jacked, good for him. that's what it has going for it. It's a movie fan's idea of what boxing is or could be, which is completely ridiculous if you know theAs an actual lifelong boxing fan, i think this movie is absolutely terrible. Jake got jacked, good for him. that's what it has going for it. It's a movie fan's idea of what boxing is or could be, which is completely ridiculous if you know the sport. Full of emotion, in the worst way. Not a realistic portrayal of boxing, or of human beings in general.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

All this user's reviews