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BuzzJack Music Forum _ Movies and Theatre _ Southpaw

Posted by: Insomnio 9th April 2015, 01:31 PM

I read that Jake Gylenhaal is great with his new role. Maybe he will receive an Oscar nomination the next year. He is very good and he has improved in later years. "Southpaw" is a sports drama movie directed by Antoine Fuqua. I have watched many of his films (Bait, Training Day, Tears of the Sun, King Arthur and Brooklyn's Finest) and I think that he is quite good director. The film is scheduled to be released on July 24, 2015.

Mh2ebPxhoLs

Posted by: J▲hq 10th April 2015, 12:14 AM

I thought I saw Rita Ora in the trailer and it appears that it is actually her! Look at her getting another acting role, let's hope she has more than four lines in this one.

This looks more interesting than it initially sounded to me, looks to be more than just a boxing movie. Appears to be a really strong performance from Jake.

Posted by: #BJSCSLAYERRRRRR 10th April 2015, 12:37 AM

Lool knew this was a fightin flick from the title.

His movies are usually terrible though.

Posted by: Jonjo 10th April 2015, 12:54 AM

No need to see this film at all as they have literally given EVERYTHING away in the trailer! Lmao. :\

Such a shame as I'm a huge fan of Jake and Rachel and would have loved to see how they did together. Gonna have to wait until it's leaked online to watch it or something now, so I can forget most of what is in the trailer

Posted by: #BJSCSLAYERRRRRR 10th April 2015, 12:56 AM

I didn't understand the trailer at all - who died on the floor? It looked like Jake but then he's alive again.

Posted by: Josh. 25th July 2015, 08:36 PM

I actually despise boxing as a sport but I love going to watch movies so went to the cinema to watch this with Dad. I'm not a converted boxing fan at all and the action sequences were by far the most boring parts in the whole movie but I still really enjoyed the film. I thought the plot was really moving, especially when the daughter didn't want to see her Dad anymore, just the power of those words hits you in the feels. Jake was a real highlight in this film showing off why he's regarded as a geeat actor so even if you're not a boxing fan, I'd still recommend watching this because it has a very emotional plot too which actions seems like the stronger storyline and it might surprise you like it did for me.

Posted by: Josh. 26th July 2015, 02:18 PM

Also sorry to disappoint you Jahq but I'd estimate Rita had about 8 lines, she basically played a wife that had two young children standing directly behind her trying to seduce a stranger to come in and that she 'doesn't have to be a wife tonight if you want me to' or something along those lines

think of the children

Posted by: J▲hq 26th July 2015, 04:41 PM

Poor Rita. Keep trying love

This made me dislike boxing more than I already did. But as a whole I thought it was pretty decent, the two hours flew by and didn't feel like it dragged at all. It was better in the second half imo, after Maureen had died and he'd lost custody of his daughter (put that in spoilers JUST IN CASE but that's all in the trailer anyway tbf) and it became more emotional. Some scenes were rather shocking like when the daughter said she wish he'd died instead, and I found it uncomfortable to watch at times. It was really nice to watch his recovery though.

Impressive performance from Jake, too early to tell if he's going to get an Oscar nom but it wouldn't be undeserved by any means.

Posted by: Jade 9th August 2015, 05:01 PM

I went to see this a couple of days ago and was really surprised by how much I enjoyed it, having not seen the trailer beforehand (just as well really as it's quite informative indeed!) and only knowing it centred around boxing. I don't really have much interest in the sport but I really felt like I rooted for the lead character to get back on top of his game again (also a testament of how good a job Jake did with the role as well). Like people have already mentioned here, I found myself far more attached to the emotional side of the plot, such as his recovery and the relationship with his daughter. Therefore, since so much of it did focus on that, I found it was really enjoyable on the whole as I felt rather invested in the characters. Time absolutely flew by!

Posted by: Jonjo 10th August 2015, 12:11 AM

I'm actually intrigued by this. Everyone I know who's seen it have all said it's pretty great (a couple have said it's mainly down to Jake's performance, more than the actual story - which is to be expected). And I'm a sucker for a strongly hyped performance movie. So will probably catch this at some point!

Posted by: Dobbo 20th August 2015, 06:29 PM

Finally saw this yesterday. Great film & starring cast, Jake showing his versatility following Nightcrawler!

Posted by: burbe 20th August 2015, 09:50 PM

I just saw this as well and it was a lot better than I expected. I would've liked more character development from after his fall from grace, I thought they focused too much on his life before.

Posted by: Insomnio 21st November 2015, 09:47 PM

"Southpaw" is a sports drama with strong social elements. It was released worldwide four months ago and it hit the top of my country’s Box Office. I had seen the official trailer some months ago and I was intrigued to see it on the big screen! Furthermore, I have noticed that the protagonist of the film, Jake Gyllenhaal, is getting better with each film and his “shares” have risen very high in Hollywood lately! I believe that he was totally wronged when he was not proposed for the "Best Actor" category at the last Academy Awards. He was excellent as Lou Bloom in "Nightcrawler".
"Southpaw" is based on an original script idea, which unfortunately rarely happens nowadays. However, do not expect to see something shocking since "Southpaw" resembles - without copying- older movies that have to do with fallen champions. In this particular case, the main character of the story is the world boxing champion, Billy Hope. He is at the peak of his career and he has gained all that he dreamed about in the slums where he grew up. His wife constantly supports him and he has a great weakness for his daughter. However, a tragic incident will have a negative psychological impact on him and the things will change quickly in his life. He literally lost everything around him and this will make him to abstain from his favorite sport for a while. Nevertheless, his acquaintance with a former boxer who owns a neighborhood gym will play a catalytic role in the future. He will help him to return to the ring with the aim to find his good old self. "Southpaw" moved slowly but in no way was it boring. It has pretty good directing, excellent cinematography, elaborate editing, intricate boxing scenes and very loud soundtrack. Antoine Fuqua was the one who undertook the directing while Kurt Sutler wrote the script. Having seen earlier films by Fuqua, 5 in total, I can say that he has an interesting filmography. Although, of course, he has a tendency to deal with marginal or corrupt characters such as Brooklyn's Finest, Bait and Training Day. However, he had reached the peak of his career with "Training Day, which was a very good film. I really liked "King Arthur" and "Tears of the Sun" too. The latter was buried by the critics. "Southpaw" had also good performances but I felt that Jake Gyllenhaal and Forrest Whitaker stole the show. The first got once again to the skin of his character while the second was worthy in his supporting role. I think the film spread a nice message to the spectators but sometimes over did it with the emotional clichés. There were many scenes in which the main character was hugging his family and crying especially at the beginning and at the end of the film, something that did not convince me for a character that selects this particular sport. Perhaps, the scriptwriter and the director wanted to embellish somehow the athletes of this sport. They, maybe, are seen as harsh and distant from others.
"Southpaw" is one of the best movies I've seen this past summer! Its content combines a violent sport with personal and family relationships, without being tedious and burdensome to viewers. It's a movie for everyone and you do not need to be a boxing fan to watch it. It is no coincidence that in the open air cinema which I saw it, the audience consisted of all ages and not just limited to the male gender, since there were many women / girls in the room. No one would have thought this since "Trainwreck" and "Paper Towns" were released in cinemas that period too. But eventually "Southpaw" had more impact than I expected. Its earnings were good enough in the first three days of its release in the USA and it has received a pretty good average score from the IMDb users (7,5). It is very likely to be seen proposed in some categories in the upcoming Oscars, since the movies which are based on boxing, have always a field day in this ceremony like Rocky, Raging Bull, Million Dollar Baby, The Fighter, Cinderella Man, Ali and The Hurricane!