With Best Picture winners such as Rocky and Million Dollar Baby leading the way, there are also successes such as Cinderella Man, The Fighter and Ali. Even Warrior and Real Steel would fit under this category.
The now heavily cliched underdog and from rags to riches story-lines have become tough for the genre to bring something new to the table.
Now we have new release Southpaw. Directed by Antoine Fuqua who is known for directing Oscar winner Training Day.
There is definitely nothing original when you break it down. However, through the directing of Fuqua, excellent performances and wonderful fight sequences, Southpaw manages to make it entertaining viewing.
You have definitely seen it all before. But with, its old fashioned themes and unoriginality, the crew seem to almost thrive on it. The bleak moments are definitely a tough watch, the underdog moments really inspire you and basically everyone does the job right.
When you see it, you will not call it a classic. There are glimpses of greatness, and that is mainly due to the performances. The build-up of this film had everyone talking male lead Jake Gyllenhaal, and that this was his push for glory at the Oscars. For me it is not awards worthy, but his performance is definitely a big attraction.
After the transformation he made in Nightcrawler, Gyllenhaal then beefed up in the space of nine months and made another movie in-between to give us something quite extraordinary to watch.
You can easily tell that he has done the training and been in the ring. It is hard to believe that his role was originally for Eminem as it was initially going to be a companion piece to 8 Mile.
As Gyllenhaal's wife, Rachel McAdams thankless supporting role was good while it lasted. It is just a shame we did not get to see enough of her. Her chemistry with Gyllenhaal was believable and gave great weight to the opening quarter of the movie.
Oona Laurence is Gyllenhaal and McAdams' daughter is a real find. Her innocence, vulnerability and steely determination made her essential viewing. 50 Cent's performance as Gyllenhaal's promoter was a nice surprise. With little experience in a major feature, I felt he did a solid job and played his part well as the story progressed.
But the star of the show for me, was Forest Whitaker. His effortless performance as Gyllenhaal's trainer in the second half of the film really made this film important. The development of his character is fascinating to watch. His character also gives the only comedic relief.
To be honest, Whitaker can roles like that in his sleep.
Despite it's obvious predictability, Southpaw is compelling, touching at times and felt amazingly truthful. Fuqua's direction is key as he tackles the predictable moments with a sensitivity that I think not many would have been able to achieve. Plus, there are great relationships with certain characters that will never make this a boring watch. I loved the televisual nature of the fighting scenes and the choreography should be applauded.
Truth be told, there are better Boxing movies out there. But somehow, Southpaw manages to be predictable and compelling at the same time.
The ending may never be in doubt, but you will have a certain pleasure when leaving the cinema. If it does not quite work for you, then the performances are an attraction in itself.
Rating: 7/10
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